The match was a ‘do or die’ game in Abu Dhabi, which saw a clash of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Rajasthan Royals (RR). It was RR, who kept their nerves to reignite hopes for its place in the playoffs. As RR won convincingly by seven wickets and 15 balls to spare, here we look at the talking points of the match.
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Rahul-Gayle partnershipFollowing an early wicket of Mandeep Singh in the very first over, opener KL Rahul consolidated with Chris Gayle. Together, they made a 120-run partnership between them, that gave them the thrust which they required. Rahul, on an individual level, played a decent innings of 46 runs from 41 balls, smashing two sixes and three fours.
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Chris Gayle showThe ‘Universal Boss’ is giving reasons to overlook his age and consider his merit. He has constantly performed with the bat ever since his inclusion in the playing XI. He scored 99 and fell a run short of the century. In his innings, he smashed eight massive sixes and six fours.
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Ben Stokes dayBen Stokes was absolutely flawless in all departments. Opening for RR, he hit 50 runs off just 26 balls, where he smashed three sixes and six fours. His bowling was praiseworthy too, as besides maintaining an economy of 8.00, he scalped two wickets in his spell. His catch to dismiss Mandeep in the first over was appreciable too.
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RR batsman contributionsIt was not just Stokes who played his part with the willow, all the batsmen- Robin Uthappa (30 runs), Sanju Samson (48 runs), Steve Smith (31 runs) and Jos Buttler (22 runs), played their part as well.
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Economical Ravi BishnoiOfall the KXIP bowlers, who went quite expensive against RR, it was Ravi Bishnoi, who came out to be economical. In his spell, he maintained an economy of 6.8.
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