It was a great day for Kings XI Punjab when the faced Chennai Super Kings in the VIVO Indian Premier League on Sunday. Putting up a show for the home crowd at Mohali, KXIP made it two in two at the venue, and the numbers make for some interesting reading!
Photo credit: BCCI/IPLT20.comThe Gayle and Rahul show
In Chris Gayle and Lokesh Rahul, KXIP fielded one of the most explosive batting pair to open the innings. The two batsmen, who have opened together in the past for Royal Challengers Bangalore, showcased why they are so feared. With a partnership of 96 runs in just 8 overs, the pair laid a strong foundation for the rest of the innings, and also made this the third highest partnership this season.
HIGHEST PARTNERSHIPS IN IPL 2018 | |||||
Partners | Runs | Wkt | Team | Opposition | Venue |
Dhawan, Williamson | 121* | 2nd | SRH | RR | Hyderabad |
Yadav, Lewis | 102 | 1st | MI | DD | Mumbai |
Rahul, Gayle | 96 | 1st | KXIP | CSK | Mohali |
Kishan, Yadav | 78 | 3rd | MI | CSK | Mumbai |
de Kock, Kohli | 77 | 2nd | RCB | RR | Bengaluru |
The Lion’s share of the partnership belonged to Chris Gayle, scoring 58 runs off 28 balls at a strike rate of 207.14 whereas KL Rahul scored 37 off 22 at a strike rate of 168.18.
Powering through the Powerplay
A good start to an innings is pivotal in setting the tone for the rest of the match, especially if the side is batting first. With the addition of Chris Gayle to supplement an in-form KL Rahul, the pair managed to amass 75 runs without losing a wicket in the first 6 overs – the second best Powerplay for a batting team this season.
- 84/0 by MI vs DD
- 75/0 by KXIP vs CSK
- 75/1 by CSK vs KKR
KXIP hit 28 boundaries in the entire innings, of which 15 came in just the Powerplay at a rate of just 2.40 balls per each boundary. These Powerplay heroics also amounted to a staggering 53.57 percent of boundaries scored in the entire innings.
Runs, runs, runs!
After the ballistic start that KXIP had at the start, there was enough momentum to go on and score a big one. The 197/7 that was eventually posted became one of the highest KXIP totals posted at Mohali.
HIGHEST KXIP TEAM SCORES AT MOHALI | |||||
Score | Overs | RR | Inns | Opposition | Match Date |
221/3 | 20 | 11.05 | 1 | RR | 28 May, 2008 |
207/4 | 20 | 10.35 | 2 | RR | 19 April, 2008 |
197/7 | 20 | 9.85 | 1 | CSK | 15 April, 2018 |
195/7 | 20 | 9.75 | 1 | RR | 21 April, 2011 |
194/4 | 18 | 10.77 | 2 | RCB | 6 May, 2013 |
But KXIP was not the only team to prosper with the bat, as CSK’s valiant effort led by their captain, MS Dhoni saw the side coming really close to the target. With 193/5 on the board for them as well, the match ended with a total aggregate of 390 runs – the third highest in the 2018 edition till date.
- 415: RCB vs RR at Bengaluru
- 407: CSK vs KKR at Chennai
- 390: KXIP vs CSK at Mohali
- 389: MI vs DD at Mumbai
- 353: KKR vs RCB at Kolkata
With a tough game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on the horizon on Thursday, it will be another opportunity to topple some records for the KXIP lads. Here’s hoping they get the numbers speaking in our language!
