IPL 2018: RR Vs KXIP, Highlights: Rahul's valiant knock goes in vain as Rajasthan outshine Punjab

Jaipur, May 8: Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin seemed mighty pleased with his team's bowling effort during mid-innings' break for they had restricted hosts Rajasthan Royals to 158/8. But his happiness was short-lived as his team failed to overhaul the target of 159 and their batsmen, barring KL Rahul, looked nowhere in control and they eventually lost the game by a huge margin of 15 runs.

Two nights back, Lokesh Rahul was the hero of Kings XI Punjab's stunning win in their run chase as he scored an unbeaten 84 in front of a rousing support at their adopted home in Indore. Fast-forward to two days and the script came a full circle on Tuesday as Ajinkya Rahane and his boys put up a spirited show and defended their total despite Rahul's herculean effort.

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Chasing a competitive, yet achievable, the target of 159, Kings XI Punjab batsmen were never allowed to free their hands even as Rahul held guard as the classy Karnataka batsman carried his bat through.

Rahul's gritty innings of 70-ball 95 were laced with some brilliant strokes. If he was at his attacking best the other night, the right-handed batsman was patient tonight to deny Rajasthan bowlers his wicket. He remained unbeaten for the second successive time and also became the leading run-scorer in the tournament but couldn't take his team home as he never really got the support from the other end.

So it was the wicket keepers day at Jaipur today. Much needed victory for the @rajasthanroyals. #RRvKXIP

— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) May 8, 2018

He lost his opening partner Chris Gayle (1) on the first ball of the third over. The Jamaican swashbuckler tried charging down the ground to smash Krishnappa Gowtham for a maximum, only to be conned by the bowler who bowled a wide and the wicketkeeper Jos Buttler dislodged the stumps.

Truly a legendary picture 😍#LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi #RRvKXIP pic.twitter.com/WckKKViqTk

— Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) May 8, 2018

Ashwin promoted himself at No. 3 in an attempt to shield his batsmen from Rajasthan spinners, especially Gowtham, but his decision yielded no result as the Tamil Nadu cricketer was cleaned up by the Karnataka spinner, two balls later. Ashwin couldn't even open his account when he was castled by a beauty from Gowtham as the ball took a big turn and ragged it back through the gate to hit his leg stump.

Karun Nair, who stitched a crucial partnership with Rahul the other night, failed badly in Jaipur and was dismissed by Jofra Archer in the very next over. Nair's dismissal at an individual score of 3 - when the scoreboard read 19/3 - meant Kings were in a spot of bother and the hosts smelled an opportunity.

KL Rahul's highest scores in the Twenty20 format:

110* - IND v WI, 2016 (Highest unbeaten score in an unsuccessful T20I chase)
95* - KXIP v RR, 2018 (Highest unbeaten score in an unsuccessful IPL chase)#IPL2018 #RRvKXIP

— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) May 8, 2018

Skipper Ajinkya Rahane immediately brought Ish Sodhi into the attack after power-plays as the fields were spread the New Zealand spinner was instantly effective. Sodhi quickly bowled his three overs in a go and leaked miserly. From his three overs i.e. seventh, ninth and eleventh, Sodhi conceded just 14 runs and accounted for the wicket of debutant Akshadeep Nath (9). It was the tight bowling from Sodhi that strangulated the flow of runs for the visitors in the middle overs and ensured Royals remain in the game.

Would you have believed it if you were told 3 years ago that two of the biggest bowling stars of the #IPL would be from Afghanistan! #RashidKhan #MujeeburRahman

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 8, 2018

Jaydev Unadkat (1/36), for a change, seemed effective with the ball and prevented the batsmen from scoring. Such was the pressure of Rajasthan bowlers, that Punjab couldn't reach 100 till the 16th over and the asking rate climbed to more than 12 an over.

By the end of 18th over, the required rate surged 23.5 an over which was nearly impossible. Despite Rahul fetched 32 runs from the last 12 deliveries, Rajasthan were still 15 runs short.

Rajasthan Royals Beat KL Rahul By 63 Runs. It Was One Man Vs Entire Team. Truly Deserved A Win And A Century. You Gotta Feel For Him. #RRvKXIP #RRvsKXIP

— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) May 8, 2018

Returning home after facing a defeat at the hands of the same opponents, in what could be termed as an ordinary performance the other night, Rajasthan bowlers made the amends and defeated Punjab, who were the clear favourites tonight, quite convincingly.

With this win, they have ensured Rajasthan stay in the hunt of play-offs and maintain their unbeaten record against KXIP at home. They have now won all five games played against KXIP at Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

Earlier batting first, Rajasthan Royals had a shaky start and lost their skipper Ajinkya Rahane (9) cheaply. But his opening partner Jos Buttler once again proved his brilliance with the willow as he notched yet another fifty after opening the innings for his side. It was his knock of 58-ball 82 that propelled Royals to a decent total as the second best score of their innings was 22 from Sanju Samson.

How it took @rajasthanroyals so long to realise @josbuttler had to open I will never know .... #OnOn #IPL2018

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) May 8, 2018

None of the other batsmen could offer any resistance to the disciplined bowling effort from Punjab bowlers. Andrew Tye was the pick of the bowlers for Punjab as he returned with the figures of 4-0-34-4. The Australian speedster bowled economically for the first three overs and grabbed and was rewarded in the final over as he grabbed three wickets in that over.

Tye bagged the wickets of Ben Stokes (14), Jofra Archer (0) and Jaydev Unadkat (0) to restrict the Rajasthan's innings to 158/8.

Teenage Afghan sensation Mujeeb Zadran (2/21) once again remained at his economical best as he consistently troubled Rajasthan batsmen with his spin and variations. He first removed dangerous Samson (22) and later deceived Buttler with his spin to get the English stumped at a time when the latter was trying to switch gears.

.@Mujeeb_Zadran completely deceives Jos Buttler in the flight of the delivery and he is stumped by @klrahul11 for 8⃣2⃣.

Rajasthan Royals are 1⃣3⃣2⃣/4⃣.#LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi #RRvKXIP pic.twitter.com/YJojQaNwCO

— Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) May 8, 2018

Rest of Punjab bowlers did well and prevented the hosts from scoring big.

Ashwin rotated his bowlers very wisely as they kept picking up wickets at regular intervals and bowled economically as well. The way his spinners operated in the middle-overs and prevented the opposition from scoring freely ensured their batsmen had another low total to chase.