IPL 2020: RR vs KXIP, Rajasthan Royals Snatch Victory from Kings XI Punjab’s Jaw, Rahul Tewatia’s 5 Sixes in an Over

History was made in the Indian Premier League on Sunday night. Rajasthan Royals defeated Kings XI Punjab by 4 wickets to set a record of the successful chase of the tournament’s history.

After losing the toss, Kings XI Punjab scored 223/2, which included Mayank Agarwal’s fantastic 106 off 50 balls and Rahul’s 17th fifty of the tournament.

In the match, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal set a third largest opening partnership of the IPL.

In response, Rajasthan achieved the seemingly impossible target due to the sharp innings of Sanju Samson (85 off 42), Captain Steve Smith (50 off 27) and finally Rahul Tewatia (53 off 31).

A total of 449 runs were scored in both innings of the match which includes massive 29 sixes. This is Rajasthan’s second consecutive win in the 13th edition of the tournament. Rajasthan Royals beat Chennai Super Kings in their first match. On the other hand, Rahul-led Kings XI Punjab faced its second defeat in three matches.

Smith-Sanju’s Sensational Batting

Steve Smith and Sanju Samson’s pair targeted Shami to Sheldon Cottrell and had a partnership of 81 runs for the second wicket. Sanju Samson contributed 40 runs in 20 balls and Smith had 38 runs in the same number of balls.

Smith completed his fifty off 26 balls but was caught out by Shami on the boundary line in the wake of a big shot on the last ball of the 9th.

Sanju Samson’s Fifty in 27 Balls

Samson took over after Smith was dismissed. Like in the previous match, he was seen hitting massive sixes. After completing his half-century in 27 balls, he tried to give more momentum to the team’s score. He was successful to provide momentum, but missed Shami’s ball and give a simple catch to KL Rahul behind the wicket. He was dismissed for 85 runs in 42 balls with 7 sixes and 4 fours.

Rahul Tewatia’s 5 Sixes in an Over

After Samson’s wicket Kings XI Punjab tried to bring some momentum shift to their side but Rahul Tewatia took the front and bring Rajasthan Royals back in the game by hitting 5 massive sixes to Sheldon Cottrell in the 18th over.

In the next over, Rahul hit one, while Jofra Archer hit two sixes to Mohammad Shami to take Rajasthan closer to victory. On the last ball of the same over, Rahul Tewatia was caught out by Mayank Agarwal, but by then the match had slipped from Punjab’s hand. He hit 53 runs in 31 balls with the help of 7 sixes. On the third ball of the 20th over, Tom Curran hit the winning four for Rajasthan Royals on Murugan Ashwin’s ball.

The Thrill of Punjab’s Innings

Mayank Agarwal’s phenomenal century and a big 183-run partnership for the first wicket with captain KL Rahul helped Kings XI Punjab score 223 for 2 against Rajasthan Royals. These two batsmen of Karnataka came to dominate when Kings XI was invited to bat.

Agarwal was in the mood to play big shots from the beginning. He scored 106 off 50 balls, which included ten fours and seven sixes. Rahul, who hit a century in the last match, faced 54 balls and hit seven fours and a six in his 69-run innings.

Man of the Match

Sanju Samson was awarded Man of the Match award for his phenomenal 85 off 42 balls including 7 sixes and 4 fours.

Playing XI

Rajasthan Royals

Steve Smith (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Sanju Samson, Robin Uthappa, Riyan Parag, Tom Curran, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Ankit Rajpoot, Jaydev Unakat

Kings XI Punjab

KL Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Glenn Maxwell, Jimmy Neesham, Murugan Ashwin, Sheldon Cottrell, Mohammad Shami, Ravi Bishnoi