END OF OVER:20 | 16 Runs 1 Wkt | PBKS: 143/7 (16 runs required, RR: 7.15)
- KL Rahul95 (70b)
- Andrew Tye1 (1b)
- Jaydev Unadkat4-0-36-1
- Jofra Archer4-0-32-1
11.51pm That's all from us at ESPNcricinfo. Rajasthan Royals moved to sixth, while Kings XI remain at third. The teams sandwiched between them, Kolkata Knight Riders (fourth) and Mumbai Indians (fifth) face off tomorrow. Here's the preview for that game, so that you're ready for Super Wednesday. Till then, it's time for me to say goodbye. Hope you enjoyed ESPNcricinfo's coverage of the IPL. See you tomorrow!
Naman: "First time heard Jos speaking and it looks like a nice bloke." -- May I direct you to this The Cricket Monthly piece, my friend? and then this one? He's one of my favourites.
11.45pmTime for the presentation. First up, the winning captain. And then the Man of the Match.
Jos Buttler, the Man of the Match. Says: "Opening is a nice change for me. Working wonders. It's hard to work out what a good score is batting first. After six overs we thought It'll be 180-200, but thinks slowed down. With KL Rahul batting well, there's no safe score. You're never quiet sure. With the field up, you have a lot of options to clear the infield, which is different to batting near the end, where you have to clear the outfield. We're still fighting, still in the tournament. Winning breeds confidence."
Ajinkya Rahane: "Really happy, the way we played. I thought 160 was good, but wicket was difficult. Thanks to Jos that we got a good start. Chasing 157, credit to our bowlers, especially in the powerplay. That stage was crucial, getting 2-3 initial wickets. And Ish Sodhi, fantastic. Our intention was to pick wickets, and keeping an attacking field will help us. Gowtham bowled really well, and then the Ashwin wicket as well. Overall, bowling unit was fantastic. It was important that we enjoy this victory and move forward. Unadkat is important, good to have a left-arm pacer. His cutters are useful in slower surfaces. Sometimes you may go four overs for 40, but good thing is he always thinks about wickets. Frankly speaking, I was confused at the toss, but I thought setting a score was important, because it was a do-or-die."
Gorango : "Losing team has both current purple & orange holders. Proves that winning is a team effort."
AJ: "Sodhi should be the MoM for his impressive figures. Never underrating Butler's innings though."
Bharat Anne: "@Divakar, Rahul surely wouldnt accept 3cr offer from RCB. Equation comes down to ABd or Rahul. Who would you choose?"
RAYAN: "Apart from Rahul, kings XI hit two boundaries only"
Sri: "@Divakar Shantha, It is not as simple as that and you know it. RCB had to manage the retaining budget and Kohli, AB were and are the better choices."
Anupam Raj: "Royals need to stop behaving like a child and learn to win by a bigger margin considering their nrr is worst. I have seen them taking things easy once their victory is almost confirmed. Don't want their coach to throw the cap on the ground in frustration."
11.33pm A clearly unsatisfied KL Rahul shakes hands with AJ Tye before meeting his opponents. Royals' win takes them to sixth. Rahul, meanwhile, scored 66.4% of his team's runs, the fourth-highest percentage in IPL history. The second-highest scorer for Kings XI was Stoinis (11), which shows exactly where the visitors lost the game. Each of Royals' bowlers chipped in: Gowtham, Archer, Unadkat, Stokes and Sodhi all playing their part. Don't forget Jos Buttler's innings of 82 though. How underrated was that knock? Reactions from the players now.
R Ashwin, the losing captain: "Maybe eight runs more than the par, but I thought it was a 160 wicket. We lost too many wickets earlier, but we could've bowled better in the Powerplay. As the ball was getting older, it got tougher to bat on. We were contemplating myself coming to bat at No. 3, just an experiment. We do have limitations, but we're trying to counter it with different combinations. Hopefully, it'll all settle through. Not worried, six wins in ten games, we'll take it."
K Gowtham: "The pressure is there bowling first over. But I've been doing it for my team, so the management is backing me. They believe in me. I love the pressure. The belief what the team is putting in me, I want to stand up. As a pro cricketer, you're expected to take the pressure. And then enjoy it. The Chris Gayle wicket wasn't planned, but the plan was to bowl wicket to wicket. The Ashwin wicket was my favourite."
Divakar Shantha: "RCB let go Rahul and kept Sarfaraz. Amazing."
Dikshit Chhabra: "I think kxip is just somewhat improved version of RR. Strong top order no middle order, good spinners, poor death bowlers. Most importantly, unpredictable!! "
Shilajit: "Rahul himself: Almost a century. Rest of KXIP: Almost a half century. Applause! :P"
Dhananjay Patel: "So Unadkat finding some kind of form after losing his place in national side. Would you rather take 11cr or place in national team? "
Abbas Khambati : "If IPL was played in early 2000s, most attracted team would surely had been Zimbabwe. How many of you remember Flower & Brent brothers, Johnson, Friend, Marillier, Carlisle, Ebrahim, Olonga, Nkala... Wow what a team that was! "
vignesh: ""Puts his ball in the pocket and folds both arms in the deep." cricinfo for a reason . u took me to visualize that and i could feel how good is that catch. way to go guys!!!!"
Vijay: "So the game of pulling the legs has begun.. bottom placed teams pulling the legs of top four, while they are trying to climb up."
Nishant: ""Rahul does a Marrilier"- Wow man you took me to a nostalgia trip.. Douglas Marrilier hitting Zaheer over fine leg for 4s and 6s and winning it all for Zimbabwe.. circa 2001" -- if you remember it first came in a losing cause actually. Against Australia in an epic ODI. Sigh, wish Zimbabwe were still that good.
MP Stoinis c Gowtham b Unadkat 11 (16b 0x4 0x6) SR: 68.75
END OF OVER:19 | 16 Runs | PBKS: 127/6 (32 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 6.68, RRR: 32.00)
- KL Rahul81 (65b)
- Marcus Stoinis11 (15b)
- Jofra Archer4-0-32-1
- Jaydev Unadkat3-0-20-0
Paramdev: "So KL Rahul stays 84+ not out against RR in winning as well as losing cause, just shows the inefficiency of KXI batting"
END OF OVER:18 | 9 Runs | PBKS: 111/6 (48 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 6.16, RRR: 24.00)
- Marcus Stoinis10 (14b)
- KL Rahul66 (60b)
- Jaydev Unadkat3-0-20-0
- Jofra Archer3-0-16-1
In T20s, Jofra Archer gets 2 out of 3 attempted yorkers right and concedes runs at an economy of only 2.87 off those balls
AJ: "@Dhanoop -Team selections based on IPL performances have always been baffling to me. So many times, we have seen IPL stars coming cropper in the international cricket. I would pick Rahane anyday in the ODI team just because the stability he provides in the fragile middle order."
END OF OVER:17 | 4 Runs | PBKS: 102/6 (57 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 6.00, RRR: 19.00)
- Marcus Stoinis7 (11b)
- KL Rahul60 (57b)
- Jofra Archer3-0-16-1
- Jaydev Unadkat2-0-11-0
Pankaj Dixit: "C'mon man...how can some one compare Rahul with Rahane...rahane can score run but can't win a match all alone...Rahul has the same abilities as Rohit and Shikhar..."