KL Rahul smashed a classy half-ton to help the Kings XI Punjab seize 6-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royal in a thrilling encounter at the Holkar stadium in Indore on Sunday.


The opener made sure he stayed till the end, playing to perfection, smashing 84 runs off 54 balls to take the hosts home with 8 balls to spare.


Chasing a modest 153, the 26-year-old laced up his unbeaten knock with 3 maximums and 7 boundaries.


Aussie all-rounder Marcus Stoinis kept his company, scoring an unbeaten 23 off 16 as the duo smashed 68 runs for the fifth wicket.


Chasing the target was easier said than done as the Punjab based outfit lost wickets at frequent interval, putting extra pressure on the hard-hitting opener. However, Rahul, held his nerves to smash third fifty of the 11th edition en route to victory.


It was collective bowling effort from the RR bowlers with Stokes, Gowtham, Archer and Anureet Singh grabbing one wicket each.


Kings XI Punjab have now jumped to third position with 6 wins in 9 matches, taking their tally to 12 while Rajasthan Royal are struggling at the bottom of the table with points in 9 games. Their defeat to Punjab is third in the row.


These two teams will again face-off on Tuesday in the return leg at the Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur.


RR innings


Young off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman led an impressive bowling display from Kings XI Punjab to restrict struggling Rajasthan Royals to a modest 152 for nine in an Indian Premier League match here today.


Mujeeb (3/27) struck in the first two deliveries of the 15th over, first removing dangerous -looking Jos Buttler and then Jofra Archer to stand in with a chance of registering a hat-trick.


But it didn't come as he bowled a wide delivery in the next ball.


However, Mujeeb's exploits were enough to keep Rajasthan in check as Kings XI kept on losing wickets at regular intervals from the start after being sent into bat.


Besides Mujeeb, Andrew Tye (2/24), Axar Patel (1/21), skipper Ravichandran Ashwin (1/30) and Ankit Rajpoot (1/37) were the other wicket-takers for Kings XI. 


Opening the batting, Buttler scored 51  off 39 balls with the help of seven boundaries to anchor Rajasthan innings but just when it was time for him to accelerate he nicked a Mujeeb delivery to KL Rahul behind the stumps.


To make matters worse for Rajasthan, Mujeeb cleaned up new man Archer with a googly in the next delivery to stand on the verge of a hat-trick.


Mujeeb also accounted for dangerous Ben Stokes (12) who was brilliantly caught by a joint effort from Mayank Aggarwal and Manoj Tiwary at the long-off boundary.


Earlier asked to bat, Rajasthan did not have a great start as they lost opener D'Arcy Short (2) and skipper Ajinkya Rahane (5) early before Buttler and Sanju Samson (28) stitched 49 runs for the third wicket to stabilise the innings.


Towards the end, Shreyas Gopal played a 16-ball 24-run cameo but it was not enough to take Rajasthan to a good total.


Toss


Kings XI Punjab won the toss and opted to bowl first against Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur.


Preview


Mid-table side Kings XI Punjab will look to get their campaign back on track after a couple of defeats when they lock horns with bottom-placed Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.


While Kings XI Punjab are placed fourth in the table with five wins and three losses from eight appearances, inaugural edition winners Rajasthan Royals are last with three victories and five defeats.


Like KXIP, RR too are coming off two straight defeats, but the Punjab outfit is placed much than its next opponents and is pretty much in with a chance to qualify for the playoffs.


While they would regret letting Mumbai Indians off the hook at the Holkar International Stadium last night, Kings XI Punjab have a side capable of making a turnaround.


For a team that boasts someone like Chris Gayle at the top of the order, it can always afford to hope. That the big-hitting Jamaican has been in red-hot form in this ongoing edition of the league, only adds to their confidence.


With his stupendous run of form, Gayle has already silenced his detractors and if his brisk fifty against Mumbai Indians is any indication, he is no mood to relax as yet.


While his bowlers were taken to the task by Rohit Sharma and Krunal Pandya in the last five overs, KXIP skipper Ravichandran Ashwin blamed his batsmen for not putting enough runs on the board after they went down to Mumbai Indians.


Put in to bat, Kings XI Punjab failed to capitalise on a good batting track and barring Chris Gayle's 40-ball fifty, no other top-order batsmen stood up.


It was Marcus Stoinis' (29 not out off 15 balls) last-over blitz that carried Kings XI Punjab to 174/6.


Ashwin, nevertheless, sounded optimistic of better days ahead.


"We fought well, if a few things had gone our way, we might have ended as winners (against MI). We bowled pretty well, but this wasn't our night," Ashwin said after the game against MI.


He refused to believe that the week's break had any impact on the team's performance.


As far as Rajasthan are concerned, Englishman Jos Buttler will be the one to watch out for. Fresh from his 18-ball half century against Delhi Daredevils, Buttler will look to replicate that showing tomorrow, albeit in a winning cause this time.


Skipper Ajinkya Rahane would himself look to score some quick runs and inspire his success-starved players. The last time RR emerged victorious was on April 22, against Mumbai Indians, and they would be eager to get back to winning ways.


Teams (from):


Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Shreyas Gopal, Krishnappa Gowtham, Heinrich Klaasen, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ben Laughlin, Mahipal Lomror, Sudhesan Midhun, Sanju Samson, Jatin Saxena, D'Arcy Short, Ish Sodhi, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, Jaydev Unadkat.


Kings XI Punjab: Ravichandran Ashwin (captain), Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Barinder Sran, David Miller, Andrew Tye, Ankit Rajpoot, Axar Patel, Akshdeep Nath, Mayank Agarwal, Manoj Tiwary, Yuvraj Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Mayank Dagar