IPL: Kings XI Punjab beat Rajasthan Royals by 14 runs

Jaipur: Kings XI Punjab beat Rajasthan Royals by 14 runs in their opening tie in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Monday night.

Chasing 184 to win the hosts reached 146 for 2 after 16th over, needed 38 runs from 24 balls. But Kings XI bounced back and took 7 wickets in space of 14 runs to restrict the hosts at 170 for 9 in allotted overs. Jos Buttler was the top socrer for the hosts with 69 off 43 balls with 10 fours and 2 sixes. Ajinkya Rahane (27) and Sanju Samson (30) were other contributors. Coming back from one year ban Steven Smith was out for 19. Sam Curran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Ankit Rajpoot took two wickets each.

Earlier, power-packed batting by Chris Gayle helped Kings XI Punjab post 183/4.

Gayle was off to a slow start, taking his time to get his eye in before changing gears to smash the opponent bowlers all around the park. The West Indies star took just 47 balls to post 79 runs, hitting 8 boundaries and four sixes in his whirlwind innings.

It needed a blinder of a catch by R. Tripathi off Ben Stokes to finally stop the carnage.

Gayle's departure slowed downed the run rate before Sarfaraz Khan scored a quick-fire 46 off 20 balls lower down the order to ensure a strong finish to the Punjab innings.

Brief Score: KXIP : 184/4 (Gayle 79; Ben Stokes 2/48) beat Rajasthan Royals 170/9 in 20 overs ( Buttler 69, Samson 30, Rahane 27, Sam Curran 2/51, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2/31, Ankit Rajpoot 2/33). IANS

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