Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals: Talking Points

Oct 31, 2020

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Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals: Talking Points Image

Rajasthan Royals ended Kings XI Punjab’s five-match winning streak in IPL 2020 as they chased down a target of 186 with ease to stay in contention for a playoffs berth. Punjab now have to win their last game, and will hope that SRH lose at least one match if they want to make it through to the top four.

Here are the talking points from the game.

 

The Universe Boss is still the king

Even at the age of 41, Gayle is unmatched in the format and remains as dangerous as he was a decade. The West Indian raced away to 99 off just 63 balls in the match against RR, with his innings containing six fours and as many as eight sixes. It was Gayle’s third fifty in six matches, which again makes us question why the franchise had dropped him for the first few games.

Gayle narrowly missed out on what would have been his 23rd T20 hundred. Gayle, during his innings, became just the first batsman in the history of the game to cross 1000 sixes in the format – with the second best player Kieron Pollard still being a long way away, with 690 sixes.

 

KL Rahul’s strike rate comes to haunt him again

KL Rahul had a strike rate of 146.49 in 2016 was at his aggressive best in 2018 as he smashed 659 runs at a strike rate of 158.41. This season, the Punjab skipper has been batting with a strike rate of just over 130, which became a bone of contention against RR as he managed 46 from 41 balls. The almost run a ball strike rate eventually came to haunt the Punjab unit as they could only muster 123 for 2 in their 15 overs, as against the 146 for 3 that Rajasthan managed after 15 overs in their run chase.

Despite being the Orange Cap holder, Rahul has been criticized for his slow-paced batting, which further reduces when he is batting alongside Gayle. The West Indian is not the best runner between the wickets, and though he can pull back his strike rate by the end, Gayle often leaves the batsman at the other end under a lot of pressure.

 

Ben Stokes’ experiment works – AGAIN!

RR were criticized when they sent in Ben Stokes to open the innings earlier in the tournament. This meant that their regular opener Jos Buttler was pushed down to number five. The move to open with Stokes did not work out initially, but has been the reason why RR have managed two wins in a row. In the last game against Mumbai Indians, Stokes maneuvered the run chase of 195 to perfection as he scored an unbeaten ton.

Against Punjab, chasing a tough 186, the all-rounder from England got a fiery 50 in just 26 balls with the help of 6 fours and three sixes, at a strike rate of 192.30. His innings helped Robin Uthappa at the other end play his natural game, and helped RR reach 60 in just 5.3 overs, which eventually laid the foundation for the other players to go after their shots and chase the target down.