An wonderful 82 off 58 balls Jos Buttler gave the host a heady start, but as soon as he left thing went into a downward spiral. a catastrophic bowling by Andrew Tye knocked 4 wickets, 3 in the last over and limited RR – 158/8.
In reply, Kings XI never got going with only KL Rahul (95 not out) putting up a fight. Jofra Archer (4-0-32-1) and Jaydev Unadkat (4-0-36-1) did just enough at the finish.
They are taking on Punjab, placed third in the table, just a day after losing to them by six wickets in Indore, where neither the bowlers nor the batsmen could do a convincing job.
Rahul’s 95* is the highest score for an opener in an unsuccessful chase in the tournament. Ashwin came in second to bat hoping to add some quick runs on the board but Gowtham sent him back for a duck with a delivery that turned in sharply to send the bails flying. Buttler, who got a reprieve on 82, did not last long.
The 59-run stand was ended when Samson miscued a pull off Siddarth Kaul’s knuckle ball to midwicket. Andrew Tye was hit for consecutive boundaries in the sixth – first through mid-on and then through covers. He first removed risky Samson (22) and later deceived Buttler with his spin to get the English stumped at a time when the latter was trying to switch gears. He was clearly emotional post-match, dedicating his wickets to his late grandparent in a post-match interview alongside Graeme Smith. In his quota of four overs, the Kiwi spinner gave away just 14 runs and scalped the wicket of debutant Akshdeep Nath. Gowtham fired one down the leg-side and had Chris Gayle stumped, and two balls later castled Ravichandran Ashwin – the ball turning big and sneaking in between bat and pad and hitting leg-stump. However, during his knock of 95, he was let down by the top and middle order. Gowtham bowled really well, and then the Ashwin wicket as well. Not everyone can be Sunil Narine.
Tye plays for the Kings XI Punjab, and took four wickets against the Rajasthan Royals including three in the last over.
The Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab faced each other twice in the space of three days and another repeat was the wicketkeepers of both the teams – Jos Buttler and KL Rahul scoring fifties.
Conditions: The pitches in Jaipur haven’t been as batting friendly as the few other tracks, and this looks no different. It looks like a very good wicket, our bowling has been fantastic. The two spinners combined for figures of 3-26 from seven overs to put the match beyond Kings XI.
