The glory streak of Kings XI Punjab has finally come to an end as Rajasthan Royals defeated them at the Sheikh Zayed cricket stadium in Abu Dhabi. Despite the fine knock of 99 runs by Chris Gayle, Punjab were let down by their bowling as Ben Stokes and Sanju Samson’s knocks ensured that Rajasthan Royals are the ones who cross the finishing line today at Abu Dhabi.
It all started at the toss as Steve Smith the Rajasthan Royals skipper won the toss and elected to bowl first at Abu Dhabi. Kings XI Punjab made one change to the side they brought in Varun Aaron whereas Kings XI Punjab went unchanged as they were on a five-match winning streak after losing six games in the first seven matches they played this season.
Gayle Storm In Abu Dhabi
Batting first it was all about the Gayle Storm as the Universe Boss was in a different mood altogether as he went on to score 99 runs off merely 63 deliveries. He was backed by the skipper KL Rahul as he too scored a valuable knock of 46 runs off 41 deliveries to take Kings XI Punjab to a score of 185 at the end of 20 overs.
In the chase, Ben Stokes went berserk as he smashed a fifty all by himself in the powerplay. Robin Uthappa too joined the party as he too went hard at the bowlers. Following the dismissal of both the batsmen Sanju Samson who has looked in good touch ever since the match against Mumbai Indians scored another knock of 48 runs off 25 deliveries but ended up losing his wicket in an unfortunate run out. In the end, it was Steven Smith and Jos Buttler who finished the match off for Rajasthan Royals as they now jump to the fourth place in the points table.
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We Had Nothing To Lose: Ben Stokes
The man of the match of today’s match between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab was Ben Stokes for his firing fifty in the powerplay. At the post-match presentation, Ben Stokes said that Rajasthan performed since there was nothing to lose.
Ben Stokes further spoke how they wanted to go hard with the new ball which led to the priced of Mandeep Singh off the very first delivery.
“I think when you are in a position like we are, you have nothing to lose. We are still hanging in. That is pleasing. The sixes are always pleasing. I went in the same mentality as I did against MI. Wanted to go hard with the new ball. We had a decent break from the last game. We normally have a quick turnaround. I cut down on the bowling part in the break to remain fresh,” Ben Stokes said at the end of the game.
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