IPL 2018, KXIP vs RR: Hits and Misses from the Kings XI Punjab - Rajasthan Royals game
In the second game at Indore, Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin won the toss and inserted Rajasthan Royals into bat who lost D’Arcy Short in the first over of the game.
Jos Buttler who opened the batting for the second consecutive time was looking in very good touch.
But RR lost wickets at regular intervals and despite Buttler’s 51, the visitors could only manage 152 in their 20 overs.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman was the star with the ball as he picked up 3/27 and all the other KXIP bowlers put in a disciplined effort.
Chasing 153, RR bowlers did well to get a couple of early wickets. Chris Gayle failed for the first time this season while Mayank Agarwal’s disappointing season continued.
But KL Rahul batted superbly and scored a brilliant unbeaten 84 and took KXIP home. Karun Nair and Marcus Stoinis complimented the Karnataka opener well as the hosts registeredtheir sixth win of the season and climbed to the third place in the points table.
#5 Hit: Jos Buttler
Jos Buttler had an underwhelming start to this IPL. But the move to the top of the order has worked very well for both Buttler and RR. In the last game, he opened the batting and scored a blistering 67 off 26 balls in the chase of 151 in 12 overs against Delhi Daredevils.
Looking at the success in the last game, Buttler once again opened the batting as Ajinkya Rahane decided to drop himself to No. 3. He struck a beautiful boundary off his second delivery and that showed he was in prime form.
It was just a back of length delivery from Ashwin as Buttler punched it off the back-foot to the cover boundary. He then struck three boundaries off Ankit Rajpoot in the next over.
He had raced off to 22 off 12 deliveries but with wickets falling around him, he slowed down and looked to bat through.
He got to his second consecutive fifty off 37 balls as he looked good for a big score. But he was dismissed by Mujeeb Ur Rahman as soon as he reached the milestone.
But it was his effort at the top of the order that helped RR get to 152 on what was a disappointing batting performance.