IPL 2018, Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals at Indore, latest update and cricket score: Archer bowls the 19th over. Rahul comes back for a second off the first delivery after guiding the ball towards long off, before smashing the ball over the bowler’s head for a straight six. Another double off the third delivery, before sealing the win for his side with a stylish cover drive that results in his seventh boundary! Kings XI Punjab defeat Rajasthan Royals by six wickets, and move to third on the points table! Preview: Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) will aim to bounce back to their winning ways when they take on bottom-placed Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Holkar Cricket Stadium on Sunday. While Punjab are placed fourth with five wins and three defeats and 10 points, the Ajinkya Rahane-led Rajasthan languishes at the bottom of the league points-table with just three wins from eight games. With just six points in their kitty, Rajasthan are in a must-win situation with the league just about past the midway point. [caption id=“attachment_4458133” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] KXIP skipper Ravichandran Ashwin, RR captain Ajinkya Rahane. Sportzpics[/caption] Although both teams have suffered two straight defeats each, Punjab have a better chance to book a playoff berth. Punjab’s batting mostly relies on opener Chris Gayle, who has accumulated 302 runs from just five games, averaging 100.66. Even in their last encounter against Mumbai Indians on Friday, when most of the Punjab batters failed to go big, the self-proclaimed ‘Universe Boss’ slammed a 40-ball 50, laced with six boundaries and a couple of sixes. In-form opener Lokesh Rahul, who faltered in the game against Mumbai, has been in good form, amassing 292 runs from eight games. The Punjab openers have been a major reason behind their success as the duo have handed a perfect start to their side on several occasions in this year’s edition. Karun Nair has also been impressive after 209 runs from seven innings but veteran Yuvraj Singh, Aaron Finch and Mayank Agarwal are yet to make their presence felt in the middle-order. The trio’s poor form could be a cause of concern for the team management and this is high time for them to come out with their best. In the bowling department, skipper Ravichandran Ashwin, along with medium-pacer Mohit Sharma add depth to the line-up. Also, pacers Barinder Sran and Andrew Tye, and Afghan spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman shoulder the bulk of the responsibility. While Australian Tye has 10 wickets from eight games with an economy of 7.90, pacer Ankit Rajpoot and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have seven and nine wickets each. On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals have experienced a topsy-turvy campaign so far. With the IPL entering its business end, skipper Rahane will expect his team to get their act together and aim for consistency. In their previous match, Rajasthan fell short against Delhi Daredevils by just four runs in a rain-affected tie. Rahane and Samson have been their best batsmen this season but the inconsistent run of Ben Stokes and Jos Butler has affected their performance this season. Among the bowlers, young seamer Jofra Archer have done well to claim seven wickets from just three matches while this IPL’s costliest buy Jaydev Unadkat have also been amongst the wickets. Rajasthan’s main concern will be the form of their spinners, Shreyas Gopal and K Gowtham, who have so far failed to hunt as a pair. While Gopal has six wickets from seven games, Gowtham has bagged five wickets from eight matches. Rajasthan couldn’t afford another defeat from here as it would almost crush their dream of a playoff berth. The squads: Rajasthan Royals: Ben Stokes, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler (Wicket-keeper), Rahul Tripathi, D Arcy Short, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat, Ankit Sharma, Anureet Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Prashant Chopra, Sudhesan Midhun, Ben Laughlin, Mahipal Lomror, Aryaman Birla, Jatin Saxena, Dushmantha Chameera, Ajinkya Rahane(Captain), Heinrich Klaasen, Ish Sodhi. Kings XI Punjab: Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin (Captain), Yuvraj Singh, Karun Nair, Lokesh Rahul (Wicket-keeper), Chris Gayle, David Miller, Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis, Mayank Agarwal, Ankit Rajpoot, Manoj Tiwary, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Barinder Sran, Andrew Tye, Akshdeep Nath, Ben Dwarshuis, Pardeep Sahu, Mayank Dagar, Manzoor Dar. With inputs from IANS
Highlights, IPL 2018, KXIP vs RR at Indore, Full Cricket Score: KL Rahul's 84 guides Punjab to a six-wicket win
Archer bowls the 19th over. Rahul comes back for a second off the first delivery after guiding the ball towards long off, before smashing the ball over the bowler’s head for a straight six. Another double off the third delivery, before sealing the win for his side with a stylish cover drive that results in his seventh boundary!
Kings XI Punjab defeat Rajasthan Royals by six wickets, and move to third on the points table!
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Highest individual scores for KL Rahul in IPL:
84*v RR, Indore, 2018*
68* v MI, Bengaluru, 2016
60 v KKR, Kolkata, 2018
After 18.4 overs,Kings XI Punjab 155/4 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 84 , Marcus Stoinis 23)
Archer bowls the 19th over. Rahul comes back for a second off the first delivery after guiding the ball towards long off, before smashing the ball over the bowler’s head for a straight six. Another double off the third delivery, before sealing the win for his side with a stylish cover drive that results in his seventh boundary!
Kings XI Punjab defeat Rajasthan Royals by six wickets, and move to third on the points table!
After 18 overs,Kings XI Punjab 141/4 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 70 , Marcus Stoinis 23)
Unadkat returns to the attack in the 18th over, and Rahul possibly seals the game in Punjab’s favour with a six and a four, with as many as 15 coming off the over. Just a run-a-ball equation for the ‘hosts’ from hereon.
KXIP need 12 to win off 12 balls.
A matured 50 from KL Rahul. Can he take Punjab over the line?
After 17 overs,Kings XI Punjab 126/4 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 55 , Marcus Stoinis 23)
Archer returns to the attack in the 17th over, and ends up leaking quite a lot of runs for this stage — 16. While Stoinis collects a boundary off a low full-toss, guiding it towards the extra-cover fence, Rahul brings up his fifty with a six.
KXIP need 27 to win off 18 balls.
After 16 overs,Kings XI Punjab 110/4 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 48 , Marcus Stoinis 14)
Stokes returns to the attack in the 16th over, conceding eight off it. Rahul, meanwhile, is a couple of runs away from a fine half-century, although he’s not likely to celebrate already given the task that he has at hand right now.
KXIP need 43 to win off 24 balls.
After 15 overs,Kings XI Punjab 102/4 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 42 , Marcus Stoinis 12)
Unadkat returns to the attack in the 15th over, and starts off with a wide. Stoinis collects his first four with a thick outside edge that sends the ball flying wide of the keeper for a four. Quick single for Stoinis off the penultimate delivery, with the all-rounder nearly getting run-out at the non-striker’s end. Samson appears to collect a one-handed blinder at point after a cut by Rahul, but the on-field umpires aren’t quite sure, going upstairs. TV umpire rules it in favour of the batsman. Single off the last delivery. Seven off the over.
KXIP need 51 to win off 30 balls.
After 14 overs,Kings XI Punjab 95/4 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 41 , Marcus Stoinis 7)
Gopal returns to the attack in the 14th over. Rahul collects a single off the second delivery of the over, bringing new batsman Stoinis on strike. The Aussie all-rounder smacks the ball straight over the umpire’s head to get off the mark with a six. Keeps the strike for the next over with a single off the last ball. Eight off the over.
KXIP need 58 to win off 36 balls.
Marcus Stoinis has been destructive in India in T20s.
His career SR – 121.23
His SR in India – 131.57
After 13 overs,Kings XI Punjab 87/4 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 40 , Marcus Stoinis 0)
Gowtham returns to the attack, and restricts Rahul and Axar to ones and twos off the first four deliveries. Axar hits towards deep midwicket, where Short takes a fine catch to result in the fall of the fourth wicket. Stoinis walks out to bat next. Four runs and a wicket off the over.
OUT! Axar tries heaving towards deep midwicket, but only hits it off the toe end. D’Arcy Short leaps up in the air and maintains his balance to pull off a fine catch. KXIP 87/4
Axar c Short b Gowtham 4(5)
After 12 overs,Kings XI Punjab 83/3 ( Lokesh Rahul (W) 37 , Axar Patel 3)
Unadkat returns to the attack in the 12th over, and helps maintain pressure on Rahul and Axar by giving away just three singles off it. KXIP need 70 to win from 48 balls.

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