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Abu Dhabi: In the 50th match of 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Friday, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP)'s Chris Gayle was at his destructive best as he marauded his way to 99 and took KXIP to 185/4 wickets in 20 overs against Rajasthan Royals (RR). Chasing the massive run target, RR clinched victory from KXIP and won the match by 7 wickets with 15 balls left.
Robin Uthappa and Ben Stokes were the openers to RR. The duo had a good start.
A steady partnership of 50 runs before the powerplay was a good flow for RR. Stokes scored his half-century in the sixth over. However, immediately after scoring his 50 he departed. Chris Jordan took the big wicket.
At the end of the powerplay, RR was at 66/1 with Robin Uthappa and Sanju Samson on strike.
The duo lead the team's score to 103 runs by halfway of the match.
However, Murugan Ashwin dismissed Uthappa in the 11th over. Uthappa departed at 30 off 22 balls while RR's score stood at 111 runs.
Steve Smith took the burden of leading RR towards victory against KXIP. But, Samson departed in midway scoring 48 runs off 25 balls.
By the end of 15 overs, RR was 146/3.
Smith scored 31 runs off 20 balls while Jos Buttler scored 22 runs off 11 deliveries leading the team to clinch victory from KXIP. RR won the match by 7 wickets with 15 balls left.
In the first innings, Gayle was restricted from his 23rd T20 ton as he got bowled by Jofra Archer off the fourth ball of the last over.
Left-handed Gayle hit six fours and eight sixes on his way to 99 off 63 balls. He surpassed 1,000 sixes in the shortest format of the game. He put up a 120-run stand with KL Rahul for the second wicket before a 41-run stand with Nicholas Pooran, in which the latter did much of the scoring.
Gayle then upped the ante when Glenn Maxwell joined him in the middle, getting to 99 with a six over long-on. Archer came back with an inch-perfect yorker that went past his inside edge, hit his pad and ricocheted on to the wicket.
The bat then slipped out of Gayle's hand as he looked to hit the ground with it, before he shook hands with Archer.
Earlier today, RR won the toss and opted to bowl against KXIP.
Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul (captain/wicket-keeper), Mandeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Deepak Hooda, Chris Jordan, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
Rajasthan Royals: Robin Uthappa, Ben Stokes, Steven Smith (captain), Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Varun Aaron, Kartik Tyagi
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