Royals win in style over Kings …

Today's Fixture
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Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians April 23 20:00 (IST)


A calm batting performance from Shane Watson led the Rajasthan Royals to a six-wicket win over the Kings XI Punjab - their first in the Indian Premier League.

The Royals were hammered by the Delhi Daredevils in their opening fixture, but three wickets from coach and captain Shane Warne set the tone on Monday as the Kings XI posted 8-166.

Fellow Australian Watson then took control in the Royals' reply, striking an unbeaten 76 to lead his side to 4-168.

Karan Goel (26 from 21 balls) proved the main aggressor early for the Kings XI, striking Munaf Patel for six twice before the India bowler gained revenge with a yorker which removed his off stump.

That brought Kumar Sangakkara (20 from eight) to the crease and he immediately let rip, plundering three fours and a six from his first four deliveries faced, but he fell when Warne accepted a simple return catch.

Mahela Jayawardene fell quickly and James Hopes (16 from 16) became Warne's second victim.

Punjab was 4-73 at that point, but some clean hitting from captain Yuvraj Singh (57 from 34) put it back on track.

Watson innings :

Warne (3-19) accounted for Yuvraj and Siddharth Trivedi picked up a couple of late wickets, but Piyush Chawla's unbeaten cameo of 24 from 11 balls took the Kings XI to their final total.

The Royals' reply did not get off to the best of starts as they slipped to 3-48.

But Australian pair Watson and Darren Lehmann steadied the ship.

Lehmann (17 from 16) was trapped lbw by Irfan Pathan, then man-of-the-match Watson continued with support from 19-year-old Ravindra Jadeja.

The Australia all-rounder struck five maximums in his 49-ball innings, backed by Jadeja (36 from 25) in an unbroken partnership of 69 which saw them home with 11 balls to spare.

The result leaves Punjab at the bottom of the IPL table, having lost their opening two fixtures.

Kings X1 Punjab
Goel b Patel 26 (21)
Hopes lbw b Warne 16 (16)
Sangakkara c & b Warne 20 (8)
Jayawardene st Kamran Akmal b Salunkhe 2 (4)
Singh lbw b Warne 57 (34)
Pathan b Trivedi 12 (19)
Sohal run out (Jadeja/Kamran Akmal) 4 (4)
Lee c Kamran Akmal b Trivedi 0 (2)
Chawla not out 24 (11)
Mota not out 1 (1)
Extras 4 (lb 1, w 2, nb 1)
Total 166 (8 wickets; 20 overs)

FoW: 1-34 (Goel, 4.5 ov), 2-56 (Sangakkara, 6.3 ov), 3-64 (Jayawardene, 7.3 ov), 4-73 (Hopes, 8.6 ov), 5-136 (Yuvraj Singh, 16.5 ov), 6-136 (Pathan, 17.2 ov), 7-136 (Lee, 17.4 ov), 8-149 (Sohal, 18.6 ov)

Bowling
Patel 4-0-36-1
Watson 4–0-39-0 (1nb)
Trivedi 4-0-25-2
Warne 4–0-19-3
Salunkhe 2-0-21-1 (2w)
Pankaj Singh 1-0-12-0
Pathan 1-0-13-0

Kings X1 Punjab
Kaif c Sangakkara b Sreesanth 5 (8)
Akmal c Chawla b Hopes 15 (10)
Pathan c & b Lee 7 (5)
Watson not out 76 (49)
Lehmann lbw b Pathan 17 (16)
Jadeja not out 36 (25)
Extras 12 (lb 2, w 6, nb 4)
Total 168 (4 wickets; 18.1 overs)

FoW: 1-6 (Kaif, 1.1 ov), 2-19 (Pathan, 2.3 ov), 3-48 (Kamran Akmal, 4.5 ov), 4-99 (Lehmann, 11.2 ov)

Bowling
Lee 4-0-35-1 (2nb)
Sreesanth 3.1-0-38-1 (2nb, 3w)
Hopes 4-0-33-1 (1w)
Pathan 4-0-21-1 (2w)
Chawla 2-0-27-0
Mota 1-0-12-0