LIVE IPL 8: Rajasthan Royals v/s Kings XI Punjab - Rajasthan Royals cruise home with 26-run win
Rajasthan Royals clinch fine 26-run win over Kings XI Punjab at Pune.
And Rajasthan Royals open IPL 8 with a fine 26-run win over Kings XI Punjab. Highlights of the match was James Faulkner's action-packed 46 and of course his 3 for 26 subsequently which swung the game in RR's favour.
Also Tim Southee and Karun Nair combined to take what was probably the catch of the tournament so far.
As for Kings XI Punjab...well better luck next time!
Man-of-the-Match is James Faulkner for his fine all-round effort
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Over 20
KXIP - 136 for 8 (20 ovrs) lose by 26 runs.
RR win by 26 runs.
End of game.
Dot ball from Morris
Last ball.
Karanveer Singh is the new batsman.
KXIP - 131 for 8
Over 19
WICKET! Bailey goes for 24.
WHADDA CATCH! Southee and Nair pull off a stunner at the boundary...Southee scoops up a difficult chance to Nair..who catches it!
RR almost have clinched it here!
KXIP - 129 for 7
WICKET! Johnson is out for a duck, holes out to Southee.
34 from 10 needed.
MAXIMUM! Bailey dispatches Faulkner's first ball into the stands..amazing shot!
Over 18
It all boils down to the final two overs here.
KXIP - 122 for 6
GOOD BALL! Johnson beaten by a fine in-swinger.
41 from 13 needed.
Mitchell Johnson strides in..he has to unleash a big one now!
KXIP - 122 for 7
Axar lost his leg-stump post a missed slog...he goes for 24.
BOWLED! Axar is cleaned up by Southee...way to go!
Southee is swinging thinsg around here!
43 from 17 needed.
Too bad KXIP will sorely miss Miller here!
Southee to bowl a crucial over.
Over 17
KXIP need huge hitting from now on!
KXIP - 118 for 5
End of over.
Morris has to get a crucial wicket here.
45 from 20.
Over 16
KXIP - 113 for 5
FOUR! Bailey's misses one and it runs behind the keeper for a boundary.
Faulkner steams in.
Over 15
KXIP - 104 for 5
Three off the over.
Axar is on 20.
Tambe back in the attack.
Over 14
KXIP - 101 for 5
62 to win now.
FOUR! Bailey opens his account with a hook over mid-wicket...fine shot!
66 from 39 needed...RR almost scent a win here!
Skipper Bailey walks in.
KXIP - 92 for 5
Miller departs for 23.
WICKET! Miller is gone...Faulkner pouches his catch off Kulkarni at third-man.
Over 13
Miller needs to bring some more of that now!
KXIP - 92 for 4
TIME OUT taken.
11 off the over.
72 from 44 needed.
95 meters was the hit!
WHADDA SHOT! Typical Miller..flies over mid-wicket into the stands...AMAZING!
FOUR! Miller executes a great hook off Southee..awesome shot!
Over 12
KXIP - 81 for 4
Sedate over.
Tambe to bowl this over.
83 off 51 needed.
Over 11
KXIP - 77 for 4
End of over.
Binny is looking in dangerous form...fine outswinger again!
FOUR AND FOUR! Two consecutive boundaries by Miller of Binny..way to go!
Over 10
KXIP - 66 for 4
Good over by Morris.
CLOSE! That yorker felled Miller!
97 more needed to win.
Morris to bowl this over.
Over 9
KXIP - 65 for 4
End of over.
Binny is in his elements here!
And Binny beats him with a fine out-swinger...CLOSE!
Killer Miller walks in!
KXIP - 64 for 4
Vijay goes after a fine 37...unlucky for him!
RUN OUT! Vijay is run-out..amazing throw by Samson!
Vijay looks solid on 36 as for now.
101 from 72 needed.
Binny in the attack.
TIME OUT taken.
Over 8
KXIP - 61 for 3
End of over.
FOUR! Axar hits a beauty through the off-side..fine shot!
Pravin Tambe is the new bowler.
Over 7
KXIP -53 for 3
End of over.
Axar is still on zero
Faulkner to bowl this one.
Over 6
KXIP - 51 for 3
MISS AND HIT! FOUR! Vijay's wild slog runs behind for a boundary...fifty up for KXIP.
Kulkarni to bowl this over.
Axar Patel is the new batsman..interesting choice?
Over 5
Danger man is out!
KXIP - 46 for 3
Maxwell is out for 7.
TERRIFIC CATCH! Maxwell is out...Southee takes a blinder!
Faulkner is the bowler.
FOUR! Vijay glances that beautifully towards fine-leg...great shot!
Over 4
KXIP - 39 for 2
End of over.
FOUR! Maxwell opens his account with one edged toward fine-leg.
Big hitting Glenn Maxwell at crease.
Dhawal Kulkarni to bowl this one.
Over 3
KXIP - 32 for 2
Saha is out for 7.
RUN OUT! Saha is gone...Samson's throw was a direct hit!
FOUR! Vijay cuts that to leg for a four..fine timing!
Southee to bowl this over.
Over 2
KXIP - 21 for 1
End of over.
SIX! Vijay slams that into the stands..good hit!
Saha at crease now.
Morris to bowl the second over.
Over 1
KXIP - 11 for 1
11 off the over.
FOUR! Beautiful boundary by Vijay.
KXIP - 8 for 1
GREAT START!
FIRST BALL DUCK! Southee nadbs Sehwag for a first ball duck...edged it behind to the wicket-keeper.
James Faulkner's 46 proved to be the corner-stone for Rajasthan's innings. While Steven Smith's 33 and Deepak Hooda's 30 were other gems, let us see if KXIP pull this off.
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Over 20
RR - 162 for 7
Four off the last over.
RR - 160 for 7
AMAZING CATCH! Miller takes a stunner at the boundary...Faulkner is out for 46.
Faulkner is on 46...Anureet to bowl the last over.
Over 19
RR - 158 for 6
Single..19 off the over.
70 meter hit for Faulkner!
SIX AGAIN! Smashed through square-leg..Whadda hit!
13 off the over so far.
FOUR! Faulkner slaps this one down the track..he is looking in stunning form!
SIX! Over Maxwell's head at long-off...MAXIMUM..by Faulkner.
His battle with Faulkner resumes.
Johnson back in the attack.
Over 18
RR - 138 for 6
Ten off the over.
SIX! Morris slams a big one through the leg-side.
Axar Patel in the attack.
Over 17
RR - 128 for 6
Two more runs.
Morris is the new man in.
RR - 126 for 6
Hooda goes for 30.
BOWLED! Anureet's yorker shatters Hooda's leg-stump...good ball!
FOUR! Another great shot, this time through square-leg by Hooda.
SIX! Hooda slams that over long-on...Anureet gets the treatment!
Over 16
RR - 115 for 5
Four off the over.
Axar Patel is back in the attack.
Over 15
Expensive over for Johnson.
RR - 111 for 5
End of over.
Johnson versus Faulkner is an interesting battle!
GREAT SHOT! Whacked away by Faulkner towards off...fine shot!
Swing and Miss!
Johnson to Faulkner.
He has bowled superbly so far...2 for 9.
Johnson is back in the attack.
Over 14
TIME OUT taken
RR -104 for 5
SIX AGAIN! Hooda brings up RR's 100 runs with a huge one over the off.
SIX! Hooda slams a huge one off Karanveer into the long-on stands.
Over 13
RR- 88 for 5
End of over.
Axar Patel to bowl the over.
James Faulkner has to fire here!
Over 12
RR - 83 for 5
Over 11
RR - 75 for 5
WICKET! Johnson's fine out-swinger has Binny caught behind..he departs for 13.
RR - 74 for 4
Smith is out for 33.
WICKET! Johnson nails Smith...top edge flies to Karanveer on leg-side boundary.
Over 10
RR- 73 for 3
Single off the last ball.
Steven Smith is in amazing form.
FOUR AGAIN! Smith powers that through the off this time for another fine boundary!
FOUR! Karanveer's first ball is smacked to long-on by Smith...good shot!
Over 9
Time Out taken.
RR - 61 for 3
End of over.
Two times he has beaten Smith on the off.
Johnson is breathing fire here!
Johnson's ball was an awesome one!
CLOSE! Smith is almost run-out...but escapes!
FOUR! Johnson's first ball goes for a wide and four..five off it!
Over 8
RR - 53 for 3
FOUR! Smith hits a spectacular square-cut off Karanveer...amazing shot!
Over 7
RR - 45 for 3
FOUR! Beautifully hit through covers by Binny..great shot!
Smith is on 21.
Sehwag executes a fantastic stop at the boundary...way to go champ!
Stuart Binny is the new batsman and Sandeep is back in the attack.
Over 6
RR- 35 for 3
Nair goes for 8.
That skidded into the stumps!
WICKET! And Axar rips that through Nair's defence...big blow!
SIX! Nair smashes that over the leg-side for a huge six...Good Shot!
SUPER SMITH!
TWO IN A ROW! Axar gets smacked for two consecutive boundaries by Smith.
Over 5
RR - 20 for 2
Three off the over.
Sandeep is in fine form by looks of it.
Sandeep comes in to bowl.
Over 4
RR - 17 for 2
Good Over.
Can Nair fire?
Anureet looks red hot as for now!
Karun Nair is in to bat..and Anureet resumes bowling.
Over 3
RR - 15 for 2
Great Over.
RR - 14 for 2
Samson goes for 5.
That was some ball.
WICKET! WHADDA BALL! Samson is pleg-before to a peach by Sharma.
FOUR! Smith cracks that through covers...FINE SHOT!
Dot ball.
Sandeep to Smith.
Over 2
RR - 8 for 1
End of over.
New batsman is skipper Smith.
Big wicket for KXIP.
RR - 5 for 1
Rahane goes for a duck.
WICKET! Rahane holes out to Axar Patel at covers...a simple catch offered.
Single.
Anureet Singh to Samson.
Over 1
RR - 4 for 0
Four off the over.
Samson can play excellent support.
Rahane has to get RR to a good start here.
FOUR! Glanced away behind for a first ball boundary...great start!
Sandeep Sharma to Ajinkya Rahane.
Black arm-bands worn in memory of Richie Benaud...Respect!
Rajasthan will have an unknown name in Deepak Hooda for tonight's game...will he be their X-Factor?
And here are the team line-ups.
Kings XI Punjab - V Sehwag, M Vijay, GJ Maxwell, DA Miller, GJ Bailey*, WP Saha†, MG Johnson, AR Patel, Anureet Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Karanveer SinghRajasthan Royals - AM Rahane, KK Nair, SV Samson†, DJ Hooda, SPD Smith*, STR Binny, JP Faulkner, TG Southee, DS Kulkarni, PV Tambe, CH Morris
BREAKING: Steven Smith is the captain for Rajasthan as Shane Watson is injured!
TOSS TIME - And George Bailey wins the toss and has elected to bowl first...interesting decision
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Welcome to Live coverage of Match 3 of IPL 8 which has Kings XI Punjab facing Rajasthan Royals at the MCA International Stadium in Pune.
Though the game can be billed as a contest amongst two equal teams, still do not count out a thriller in the making.
Do have a look at the Match Preview here.
Shane Watson (Rajasthan Royals) and George Bailey (Kings XI Punjab) are two stalwart skippers who would be expected to take onus and deliver come the big match.
While Rajasthan are mired in a controversy prior to the match, still the Men in Purple will be expected to brush it off aside and concentrate on the big game.
Punjab's South African star David Miller is also gung-ho about facing Rajasthan.
Bailey's men have a horde of stars who have performed well in World Cup 2015, and the likes of Shaun Marsh and Miller will be counted upon to stand and deliver.
Game On!
To follow complete IPL 8 coverage, click here.