The second match of Super Sunday (May 6) saw Kings XI Punjab facing the Rajasthan Royals at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore. Having received the thrashing from Mumbai Indians batsmen two days ago, the KXIP bowlers made a commendable comeback to restrict RR to 152/9 in 20 overs.

Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin won the toss and elected to bowl first. Ashwin proved his decision right in the very first over by removing the Rajasthan opener D Arcy Short for just 2. Two overs later, Axar Patel got rid of the RR skipper Ajinkya Rahane (5 runs off 7 balls) cheaply.

The Royals were tottering at 35/2 in 3.4 overs before Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson added a 49-run stand for the third wicket to give them some hope. After Samson’s dismissal on 28, Ben Stokes made his way to centre to partner his English teammate.

During his brief stay at the crease, Stokes looked good before the combined brilliance of Manoj Tiwary and Mayank Agarwal on the field sent him packing for 12. Following Stokes’ wicket, RR once again lost the plot as Mujeeb Ur Rahman removed Buttler (51 runs off 39 balls) and Jofra Archer in successive deliveries.

Thanks to the cameo at the fag end of the innings from Shreyas Gopal (24 runs off 16 balls), RR eventually managed to cross the mark of 150.

Mujeeb finished his quota of 4 overs by claiming 3 wickets for 27 runs while Tye picked up 2 wickets in his 4 overs by conceding 24 runs.

Brief Scores:

RR – 152/9 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler: 51; Mujeeb Ur Rahman: 3/27)