Kings XI Punjab clinched a thriller contest against Rajasthan Royals after the latter’s run chase was marred by the controversial ‘Mankading’ dismissal of in-form Jos Buttler (69).
-- Advertisement --The Punjab outfit showed resilience in their bowling even when the match wasn’t in the visiting team’s favour. They reduced a cruising Royals outfit from 108/1 to 164/8 in the matter of 6 overs.
Chris Gayle (79) gave Kings a good start earlier in the evening, with able support from Sarfaraz Khan (46*) and Mayank Agarwal (22) helping the visitors to cross the 180-run mark.
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Match Analysis
- Firstly, it’s great to see Chris Gayle in his usual hard-hitting mood back. He scored a timely 79 off just 47 balls. His knock helped Kings to get out of a sticky situation after they lost KL Rahul (4) in the first over itself. He also became the fastest to cross the 4,000 run mark in IPL. It has been quite a while since we saw such a destructive inning from the West Indian.
- Sarfaraz Khan deserves credit here as well. He stuck to the crease till the end and his quick fire 46 from 29 balls were crucial.
- Rajasthan Royals’ bowling was dismal on Monday. Their costliest bowler, Jaydev Unadkat was also the most expensive on the field, giving away 44 runs from 3 overs (average 14.67). Although Ben Stokes did pick two wickets, he still gave away 48 runs from 4 overs. Barring Archer (0/17 in 4 overs), Rajasthan bowlers had a nightmare yesterday.
- Jos Buttler is going to be the go-to man for Rajasthan Royals this season like last year as well when he hit four consecutive fifties to propel RR to playoffs. He is going to be his team’s most lethal weapon this season.
Moment of the Match- Ashwin Mankads Buttler
Mankading was the most talked about topic from the last match and quite rightly so, considering the impact it had on the outcome of the game. Rajasthan were cruising in the run chase at that point, with Jos Buttler completely set. However, Ashwin dismissed the Englishman at the non-striker’s end to the astonishment of the gathering and the batsman.
-- Advertisement --Soon, the Twitterati was filled with contrasting views, some in favour of Ashwin while some against the veteran spinner.
Here are some of the most notable ones:
-- Advertisement --The true origin of Mankading. Blame our ancestors, Jos.pic.twitter.com/mTDnumTslO
— Barny Read (@BarnabyRead) March 25, 2019
My opinion is Ashwin should have warned Butler at least once before Mankading him. What do you all feel? As skipper he played within the rules but did he violate the spirit of the game?
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) March 25, 2019
Huge respect for @ashwinravi99 an all time great of Indian cricket.
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) March 25, 2019
Which is why I felt what happened was just not cricket; there is a reason as @BishanBedi says cricket is special. today, you won the game, spirit was lost. Next time, warn the batter before Mankading! #RRvsKXIP
I don’t watch IPL but the news flash of Ashwin Mankading Butler, got me on. I know ppl will have contrary opinion, but I think it’s perfectly alright to do, even without warning.
— Yusuf Unjhawala ?? (@YusufDFI) March 25, 2019
What an absolute disgrace! @josbuttler spitting tacs and rightfully so!!! #RRvsKXIP
— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) March 25, 2019
If a bowler oversteps it's NO ball, then #Mankading is fair. #AshwinMankads
— Sandeep Pattanaik (@bindashsandeep) March 26, 2019
Expert Tweets
Apropos Butler’s controversial run out by Ashwin, let’s be clear. Not obligatory for bowler to caution non-striker. Recent ICC review on subject emphasised this to stop batsmen from taking advantage. But it remains an uncool thing to see without the warning
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) March 25, 2019
Butler's controversial dismissal was the big breakthrough of course, but it was Smith's dismissal which turned the match around completely IMO. Great catch by K L Rahul, the best seen so far this season
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) March 25, 2019
Lots of drama on the Buttler run-out. He was livid but the law and the advisory on it is clear. The bowler is within his right to run a player out at the non-striker's end if he is out of his crease
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 25, 2019
It’s within the laws of the game but Jos Butler should have been warned by Ashwin before that. Very Surprised ! Remember Ashwin doing the same in an international game where Sehwag withdrew the appeal.
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) March 25, 2019
Player of the Match
Chris Gayle was undoubtedly the star of the match between RR and KXIP. He took charge of the contest from a delicate stage to take the team to a respectable total.
