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Patna : Rajasthan Royals (RR) comfortably beat Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) by 7 wickets in the 50th match of IPL 2020 at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, UAE, on October 30, 2020, late night, with opener Ben Stokes scoring 50 in 26 balls hitting 6 fours and 3 sixes and Sanju Samson (wk) scoring 48 in 25 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes.
Replying to KXIP’s 185/4 in 20 overs, RR scored 186/3 in 17.3 overs overcoming the Chris Gayle (99 runs) blitzkrieg. RR captain Steven Smith remained unbeaten on 31 in 20 balls with 5 fours while Jos Buttler remained unbeaten on 22 in 11 balls hitting 1 four and 2 sixes. RR had won the toss but opted bowl. Ben Stokes was named Player Of The Match. Stokes also took 2 wickets in the match.
Batting first, KXIP lost their 1st wicket that of opener Mandeep Singh with 1 run on board. Mandeep fell to Jofra Archer for zero. Opener Lokesh Rahul and Chris Gayle then added 120 runs for the 2nd wicket. Lokesh Rahul fell to all-rounder Ben Stokes for 46 in 41 balls hitting 3 fours and 2 sixes and it was 121/2. But, Gayle blitzkrieg continued. Gayle added 41 runs with Nicholas Pooran for 3 wicket. Pooran fell to Stokes for 22 in 10 balls hitting 3 sixes and it was 162/3. Gayle fell to Jofra Archer for 99 in 63 balls hitting 6 fours and 8 sixes and it was 184/4 in 19.4 overs. Glenn Maxwell remained 6 not out while Deepak Hooda remained unbeaten on 1.
Chasing a target of 186, RR openers Robin Uthappa and Ben Stokes added 60 runs for the 1st wicket in 5.3 overs. Stokes fell to fast bowler Chris Jordan for 50 making it 60/1. Uthappa fell to spinner Murugan Ashwin for 30 in 23 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes and it was 111/2. Samson was run out for 48 and it was 145/3 in 14.2 overs. Steven Smith and Jos Buttler added 41 runs in their unbroken partnership for the 4th wicket.Smith hit fast bowler Mohammad Shami for 3 fours in 17th over and Buttler too hit 1 four in the same over.
It was RR’s 6th win 13 matches and they have now 12 points. For KXIP, it was their 7th loss in 13 magtches and remain pegged at 12 points though with a slightly better net run rate (NRR).