IPL 2018: Match 40, RR vs KXIP- Who Said What

The Rajasthan Royals (RR) found themselves in dire straits prior to the game against the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). They were desperate for a win and eventually didn’t let themselves down as they brushed aside Punjab by 15 runs at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium. The Royals were clinical in all departments and despite KL Rahul’s masterclass, the home team managed to hold their nerves and moved to the sixth place of the table.

Buttler blazes away

Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and elected to bat first for the notion that the pitch might get slower as the game progresses. He opened with Jos Buttler but strained to make any sort of an impact and finally became a victim of Andrew Tye’s knuckleball. Buttler, on the contrary, looked in a zone of his own and peppered the boundaries with sheer disdain.

He notched up his third consecutive half-century in 27 balls and eventually scored 82 runs before perishing to the guile of Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Samson, who threatened with a couple of boundaries, couldn’t carry on. Following their dismissal, the innings went into a slump and the home team could muster 158 runs. Tye was their standout bowler who not only picked four wickets, but also stemmed the run flow.

Rajasthan survive Rahul scare

The run-chase was going to be a tad tricky bearing in mind the nature of the wicket. Chris Gayle and KL Rahul started the proceedings for Punjab. However, Krishnappa Gowtham pinned Gayle in his first over. Ravichandran Ashwin promoted himself up the order but became Gowtham’s second victim. Karun Nair’s wicket by Jofra Archer put their innings in the absolute doldrums.

On the other hand, Rahul carried forward his good form from the previous game and put his head down in a bid to get them home. He notched yet another half-century in 48 balls, which kept the visitors in the hun. Nevertheless, wickets at regular intervals made his task even more difficult. Rahul eventually scored 95 runs, but the visitors fell short of the target by 15 runs.

Ravichandran Ashwin, the skipper of Kings XI Punjab, said

 I think we gave maybe ten runs over par. We lost too many wickets upfront, and in the end you saw how much you could catch up and we should have continued like we did in the last game. It was pretty evident that the wicket would get tougher and tougher.

We wanted to attack in the powerplay, get ahead of the game and take it from there. Me coming up the order was an experiment, we were planning it in the last game as well. We are a team that knows our limitations and we are trying to counter it with our combinations. No, I am not worried with the situation we are in; if you would have given me six wins out of ten games I would have taken it hands down.”

Ajinkya Rahane, the skipper of Rajasthan Royals, said

Really happy the way we played. I thought 160 was good here. Credit to the bowlers, the way they bowled. Powerplay overs were crucial. Ish Sodhi in the middle overs was fantastic. We thought keeping an attacking mindset will help us. KG bowled really well, getting Gayle and Ashwin.

It’s important that we enjoy this victory, forget this and move forward. Left-arm pacer is always good to have, especially when you play on slow wickets. Sometimes you get hit but good for Jaydev because he always thinks wickets. I was confused (after winning the toss) but putting runs on the board helped us. We want to play good cricket through all 40 overs.”

Jos Buttler, the Player of the Match, said

Nice change for me; wasn’t quite working in the middle. Didn’t capitalize on a few good opportunities. Change in position worked wonders. Was hard to work out what a good score is. After the powerplay, you thought 180 is a good total but then it started to spin.

You were never quite at home (talking about the pitch). With the field up, you’ve a lot of options. With the ball hard, opening position is a very good place to bat. Boys played well as a team, so we can take that confidence in the next game.”