As promised, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) won the last match of the group stage fixture of the IPL 2019. Even though they were out of the chase for final fours, they turned the table a bit and pulled Chennai down to the second post. This Sunday, in an exciting match against Chennai Super Kings, KXIP unleashed their magic. Overall, Chris Gayle and KL Rahul have done the bulk of a job.

Even after a blistering performance by Suresh Raina and Faf Du Plessis, CSK lost to KL Rahul’s match-slaying 71 (36). KXIP bowlers made their bid by limiting CSK to a score of 170 in 20 overs. It wasn’t the lowest score but was kind enough to chase. The medium-fast English bowler, Sam Curran took out the three key players of Chennai, Du Plessis (96), Raina (53) and Watson(7).

Rahul took a keen interest in smashing Harbhajan Singh on the field:

KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Ravichandran Ashwin — Gayle-Rahul eases things up for the KXIP. Photo by: Rahul Gulati /SPORTZPICS for BCCI

While chasing a score of 171, Punjab got an early advantage as their opener Rahul had post 57 runs on the board in just four overs. It was one spectacular performance by him when he bagged his half-century in only 19 deliveries. Rahul took a keen interest in smashing CSK offie, Harbhajan Singh and scored 24 runs in fourth over. Whereas, he had already snatched 19 runs in the first alongside Chris Gayle.

KXIP could not pull CSK down to the third position as they initially seemed intended while Rahul was on the crease. They for sure made it as their one of the best performance for their fans and ended it on a good note.

Later on, owing to this match-winning performance by the fellow opener, Chris Gayle called out Rahul as one of the best opening partners. After the match, Rahul had a brief conversation with Gayle where he praised his Caribbean look. Whereas, in return, Gayle praised Rahul as a fantastic opening partner and wished he’d keep it on in the World Cup as well.