IPL 2020 LIVE Score, KXIP vs RR Match: Rahul, Gayle stitch fifty stand as Punjab recover from early blow

IPL 2020 LIVE SCORE, Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals latest updates: Varun Aaron goes for 14 runs from his third over. He was smacked for a six earlier by Gayle and KL Rahul now. He hasn’t helped himself by bowling short to KL Rahul. And a full delivery into the slot to close the over out is met with a boundary. Not the best of deliveries and dealt with, crudely

Preview: It’s another do-or-die game for Rajasthan Royals as they take on KXIP. RR sit second from the bottom with 10 points from 12 matches while KXIP are on 12 points from 12 matches. The manner of win against table-toppers Mumbai Indians would have given RR a lot of confidence. They won the match by eight wickets and 10 balls to spare, chasing down 196 against a strong Mumbai bowling line-up.

Ben Stokes finally fired at the top with a brilliant century. He struggled earlier to start off but his move to open the batting finally worked for RR. Their biggest concern though is Steve Smith’s form; he’s been very inconsistent and has had scores of 16 not out, 19, and 11 in the last three innings. Overall, he’s averaged just 25.09. RR would need him to get back to his best as soon as possible.

Jofra Archer has been excellent in the bowling department and the spinners – Shreyas Gopal and Rahul Tewatia – too have formed a vital cog in the middle overs. However, the lack of output from the Indian pacers is a worry for them. Ankit Rajpoot got hammered for 60 runs from his four overs against MI, while Kartik Tyagi went for 45/1 in his four. They need to improve their death bowling as well.

Apart from these concerns, they have to face a rampaging KXIP side that has won five matches in a row. KXIP’s death and middle overs bowling has been brilliant and the arrival of Chris Gayle has breathed a lot of confidence and positivity into the side. Mandeep Singh’s emotional unbeaten half-century against KKR has further lifted the mood in the camp.

While they have done many things right, they would like Glenn Maxwell to fire with the bat if and when needed and demand a bit more consistency from the middle order.

When these two teams met earlier in the tournament in Sharjah, RR chased down 224 with three balls to spare thanks to half-centuries from Steve Smith, Sanju Samson, and Rahul Tewatia.

With two teams fighting to stay alive, we can expect an enthralling contest.

Squads:

Rajasthan Royals full squad: Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Mahipal Lomror, Manan Vohra, Riyan Parag, Robin Uthappa, David Miller, Ankit Rajpoot, Mayank Markande, Shreyas Gopal, Varun Aaron, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Akash Singh, Oshane Thomas, Andrew Tye, Rahul Tewatia, Shashank Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anirudha Joshi, Tom Curran, Sanju Samson, Anuj Rawat.

Kings XI Punjab full squad: KL Rahul (Captain), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Sheldon Cottrell, Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Arshdeep Singh, Hardus Viljoen, M Ashwin, J Suchith, Harpreet Brar, Darshan Nalkande, Glenn Maxwell, James Neesham, Chris Jordan, Krishnappa Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Tajinder Singh Dhillon, Nicholas Pooran, Prabhsimran Singh.

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