IPL 2018: Kings XI Punjab's Recent Show Made Nushrat Bharucha Jump off the Bed

The second game of Sunday’s doubleheader between Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals had everything to keep the fans glued to their seats until the last ball.

It had good partnerships, spectacular collapse, stunning catches, brilliant bowling and what not. In the end, Kings XI Punjab prevailed, thrashing the Royals by six wickets in Indore.

Ravichandran Ashwin gave his side a flying start by dismissing D’Arcy Short for just two. Jos Buttler then hit Ankit Rajpoot for four boundaries in the next over to give the Royals the early impetus. However, one run in the third over followed by Ajinkya Rahane’s dismissal put the hosts firmly on top.

Buttler and Sanju Samson then steadied the ship, helping the Royals finish the powerplay without suffering any further setback. At the end of the six overs, the Royals were 45 for two. Both the batsmen were mixing caution with aggression to build a solid platform for a good total. At the halfway stage, the visitors had fully recovered from the early setbacks as the scoreboard was reading 81 for two.

But it was just the calm before the impending disaster. Andrew Tye broke the stand by dismissing Samson, and it opened the floodgates.

The middle-order faltered once again, as wickets fell like a pack of cards. From 84 for two, the Royals were 100 for four and then 114 for seven. Shreyas Gopal then played a fine cameo 24 runs to help his side post a respectable 152 for nine. Mujeeb Ur Rahman starred with the ball, taking two for 27.

In reply, the Kings XI were off to a shaky start, losing two wickets for just 29 runs.

KL Rahul and Karun Nair then steadied the ship with a 50-plus stand before the latter returned to the pavilion. Eight runs later, Axar Patel departed too which forced Rahul to drop anchors. The right-hander took 44 balls to complete his fifty.

The game turned Kings XI’s way in the 17th over when Rahul hit Jofra Archer for 16 runs before Jaydev Unadkat conceded 15 runs, as Kings XI all but sealed the game.

The Punjab-based outfit eventually reached home in the 19th over. Rahul remained unbeaten on 84 off 54 balls.

And even before the game finished, Bollywood actress, Nushrat Bharucha took to Twitter to express her excitement. After seeing Mayank Agarwal and Manoj Tiwary pull off a sensational catch to send back Ben Stokes, she tweeted:

“.@lionsdenkxip is killing it!! That Ben stokes catch was epic!! Made me jump off the bed!”

.@lionsdenkxip is killing it!! That Ben stokes catch was epic!! Made me jump off the bed!

— Nushrratt Bharuccha (@Nushrratt) May 6, 2018