IPL 2019 RR vs KXIP: Kings XI Punjab beat Rajasthan Royals by 14 runs to break their jinx

Kings XI Punjab win their opener against Rajasthan Royals by 14 runs. KXIP broke the jinx as they won their first match at Sawai Mansingh Stadium. After winning the toss Rajasthan Royals chose to field first and they had a good start as Dhawal Kulkarni took KL Rahul’s wicket in the first over. Rahul made 4 runs before he was caught behind by Jos Butler. Kings XI Punjab finished the first innings at 184-4 in 20 overs.

Kings XI Punjab batsman Chris Gayle hit an amazing half-century in his first match of the season. Gayle hit six fours and two sixes to reach the 50 run mark. In the process Gayle also became the fastest to make 4,000 IPL runs. Gayle was dismissed by Ben Stokes but it was too late as he already had 47-ball 79 runs under his name.

Mayank Agarwal made 24-ball 22 before he was dismissed by K Gowtham. Nicholas Pooran became Stokes’ prey as he made just 12 runs before getting out. Young gun Sarfaraz Khan made a fantastic 29-ball 46 to finish the innings for Kings XI Punjab.

Ben Stokes two wickets and gave away 48 runs, while Dhawal Kulkarni and K Gowtham took one each.

For Rajasthan, Ajinkya Rahane and Jos Butler set the stage for the boys in pink as they made a 78 run partnership stand. Ajinkya Rahane was bowled out by R Ashwin for 27 runs but Jos Butler was looking good as he smashed 10 fours and two sixes before Ashwin got him run out while he was at the non-strikers end. Butler went for 43-ball 69.

Steve Smith made 16-ball 19 before he was caught by KL Rahul off Sam Currans’ ball. Rahul took a fantastic catch to dismiss Smith. Curran then took Sanju Samson’s wicket off his last ball. Samson made 25-ball 30 before he was caught by R Ashwin.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman took Ben Stokes’ wicket to put Rajasthan under pressure. Stokes made 2-ball 6 before he was caught by Karun Nair. Mujeeb took another wicket in the same over to dismiss Rahul Tripathi as he was caught by KL Rahul. Tripathi made 4-ball 1.

Shami bowled an excellent over and took Jofra Archer’s wicket after a misunderstanding between the two batsmen. Jaydev Unadkat was the first prey of Ankit Rajpoot in the 20th over. Rajpoot took another one as Shami caught K Gowtham.