IPL: Rajasthan win but Kings XI still in playoff contention

Jaipur: A 15-run win by the Rajasthan Royals over Kings XI Punjab on Tuesday evening saw the hosts steadily rise away from the foot of the table in the 2018 Indian Premier League.
Rajasthan are now third from bottom, with Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils now occupying the unenviable positions of propping up the Indian Premier League table.
The 40th match of this season’s IPL saw Rajasthan come out to bat first, and despite losing skipper Ajinkya Rahane (9) and Krishnappa Gowtham (8) early on, Jos Buttler was on hand to give them the impetus they needed to build a good score with an excellent 82 runs from 58 deliveries, in an innings which saw nine fours and one six.
He was ably aided by Sanju Samson, who contributed with a quick-fire 22 from 18 deliveries, but once Mujeeb Ur Rahman and K.L. Rahul conspired to dismiss Buttler, the rest of the Royals batting lineup failed to deliver.
It mattered little, though: the damage had already been done, with a final score of 158 for Kings XI to chase.
It was K.L. Rahul — the man who’d stumped Buttler to stop the flow of runs — who got things going for Punjab, as he put the Royals attack to the sword with a fantastic solo innings that saw him score 95 runs from 70 balls, in addition to plundering 11 boundaries and a solitary six.
But if Rahul thought he’d receive support from his fellow batsmen, he was sorely mistaken. Chris Gayle, so often the scourge of bowling attacks across the globe, was stumped by Jos Buttler, who evened the odds by dismissing him for just one run, which Ravichandran Ashwin was out for a duck.
Karun Nair (3), Akshdeep Nath (9), Manoj Tiwary (7) and Axar Patel (9) were all dismissed for single-digit scores as the Rajasthan bowlers tore into the Kings XI middle order, while Rahul could only watch as the wickets steadily tumbled one after the other.
Only Marcus Stoinis, the Australian tailender, offered some sort of home, with his 11 runs coming from 16 balls, but that too proved to be too little, too late in the end, as the Kings XI let go of an excellent opportunity to nail down a playoff berth.
Nevertheless, they still remain third, with the top four teams qualifying for the playoffs. Sunrisers Hyderabad lead the table with 16 points from 10 games, while Chennai are second with 14. Kings XI have 12, and Kolkata Knight Riders are on 10. Rajasthan, though they may be third from bottom, are only two points behind Kolkata.
Rajasthan’s next game offers them a chance to make up more ground, when they host Chennai Super Kings at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur on May 11, while Kings XI also have a chance to put further daylight between themselves and the chasing pack when they welcome the Kolkata Knight Riders on May 12.