IPL: Rahul stars as Punjab outplay Rajasthan

Indore, May 7 - Opener Lokesh Rahul's unbeaten 84 helped Kings XI Punjab beat Rajasthan Royals by six wickets in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Sunday. The win takes Punjab to third spot with 12 points in

Following the wicket, Rajasthan lost track as Mujeeb removed Stokes (12) and Buttler in the 13th and 15th overs respectively. Mujeeb struck for the second time in the 15th over to get rid of Jofra Archer (0) to reduce the visitors to 106/6.

Stokes was dismissed by a relay catch between Mayank Aggarwal and Manoj Tiwary at the long off, while Rahul grabbed an outside edge of Buttler. Archer was foxed by a googly before the delivery rattled the stumps as Rajasthan innings was derailed.

In the following over, paceman Ankit Rajpoot dismissed K. Gowtham (5), while Tye got rid of Rahul Tripathi (11) in the first delivery of the 18th over, with Rajasthan at 129/8.

Later, Shreyas Gopal scored a brisk 24 off 16 deliveries to take Rajasthan cross the 150-run mark.

Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals: 152/9 (Jos Buttler 51, Sanju Samson 28, Shreyas Gopal 24; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 3/27, Andrew Tye 2/24) vs Kings XI Punjab: 155/4 (Lokesh Rahul 84 not out; K. Gowtham 1/18)

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IANS