Picture : Twitter / IPL
It was an incident marred IPL encounter between the Kings XI Punjab and the hosts Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur. kings XI Punjab won the match by 14 runs but not without controversy and sparking off a debate .
Royals skipper Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and asked the Kings XI Punjab to bat first. The Royals struck early as K L Rahul fell for 4 . But Chris Gayle after a slow start exploded in his characteristic style to score 79 off 47 balls . Gayle hit 8 fours and 4 huge sixes . Along with Mayank Agarwal ( 22) put on a 54 run partnership to give momentum to the innings.
Later on young Sarfaraz Khan chipped in with a valuable 46 off 29 balls . He remained unbeaten and added 84 runs with Gayle for the third wicket. It was his impetus towards the end that helped the Kings cross 180 mark and reach 184/ 4 in 20 overs.
For the Royals Ben Stokes took 2/ 48 off his 4 overs , Dhawal Kulkarni 1/ 30 ( 4 overs ) and Krishnappa Gowtham 1/ 32 ( 4 overs)
In reply Royals got began with a intent skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Jos Buttler put the Royals on track with a 64 runs in power play overs and added 78 for the first wicket . Rahane fell for ( 27) .
Buttler was in smashing form and hit the Kings bowlers all around the park as Royals looked certain for victory.
But in dramatic dismissal that sparked off a furore, Kings skipper Ashwin frustrated with the game slipping away did the unthinkable as he ran-out Buttler, who, at the non-striker’s end started off, in controversial circumstances in the 13th over with Rajasthan scoreboard reading 108 for two. Thus becoming the first victim of Mankading in IPL.
Buttler was sensational till is controversial dismissal he had scored 69 off 43 balls. Sanju Samson scored ( 30) , Understandably Buttler was furious and exchanged heated words with Ashwin as he left the field .
Buttler’s dismissal hit the Royals hard as they lost wickets like pack of cards , Steve Smith unlike David Warner did not have good IPL outing and fell for 20 caught brilliantly by KL Rahul . Ben Stokes once again fell early after hitting a big six. His inconsistency with the bat also came to the fore again.
From 148 / 3 in 16. 4 overs the Royals collapsed to 170/ 9 in 20 overs . It was dramatic collapse that shocked the large crowd . Kings won by 14 runs.
For the Kings , young England IPL debutant Sam Curran took 2/ 52 ( 4 overs) , Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2/ 31 ( 4 overs), Ankit Rajpoot 2 / 33 ( 4 overs) Ravichandran Ashwin 1/ 20 ( 4 overs)
