Rajasthan Royals defeated Kings XI Punjab by 6 wickets to advance to the IPL play-offs. With only two matches left, Mumbai Indians have secured a place in the play-offs. Only Chennai Super Kings have dropped out. Any of the remaining 6 teams can go to the playoffs. 6 teams fighting for three places.
Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals, both with 14 points and two matches remaining, are well ahead. Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders played 13 matches and stood at 12 points. Sunrisers Hyderabad 10 points in 12 matches.
Everyone’s chances increased when Rajasthan won on Friday. However, KKR will have to win the last match by a big margin. Because, Shah Rukh Khan’s team is behind in net run rate.
On this day Ben Stokes was the hero of Rajasthan’s victory. At first he took two wickets with the ball. KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran, two big names in his hunting bag. Later he went down to open the innings and made 50 off 26 balls. Stokes is the man of the match.
With 15 balls to spare, Rajasthan beat Punjab by 185/4. Lost just three wickets. Chris Gayle’s 99-run innings also faded under the all-rounds performance of Stokes. He was not getting a chance in the first XI at the beginning of the tournament. That Chris Gayle is now in devastating form with the bat. Kings XI Punjab has become the mainstay.
Gayle-Storm is seen in the desert. The Caribbean superstar went down to bat at number three on Friday. However, he missed the century for just 1 run. Gayle was bowled by Joffra Archer for 99 off 63 balls. For Gayle’s batting storm, Punjab made 185/4 by batting first against Rajasthan Royals. KL Rahul scored 46 off 41 balls.
Apart from Stokes, Sanju Samson (48 off 25 balls), Steve Smith (31 not out off 20 balls), Robin Uthappa (30 off 23 balls) and Josh Butler (22 not out off 11 balls) have scored runs for Rajasthan.
