Preity Zinta, co-owner of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) penned down an emotional note for the fans, who had been cheering for the team throughout the ongoing season in a tweet after the team bowed out of IPL 2020.
Despite a late surge in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, KXIP bowed out of the tournament after losing their last two leagues matches against Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Image Credit: Twitter
Preity Zinta Tweets That Punjab Franchise Will Come Back Stronger Thanking Fans For Support
After winning just one out of their first six matches, KXIP staged a remarkable fightback by winning five back to back matches defeating the likes of Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata before losing to Rajasthan and Chennai to squander an opportunity to qualify for playoffs.
But I wanna thank all the fans of @lionsdenkxip for standing by us & supporting us through thick n thin ? Thank you for being so awesome. You guys are the wind beneath our wings ❤️ #Goodbye #Ipl2020 #Dream11IPL #Saddapunjab #ting ❤️ (2/2)
— Preity G Zinta (@realpreityzinta) November 3, 2020
KXIP boasted of a fearsome top-order including skipper KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran. The four batsmen scored in bulk in the 13th edition being played in the UAE as KL Rahul was leading run-scorer with 670 runs in 14 matches averaging 55.83.
After being dropped for the first six matches, Chris Gayle took the tournament by a storm as his inclusion in the side also reversed the team’s fortunes as the team went on to win five matches in a row.
Punjab Loses Against Rajasthan And Hyderabad To Bow Out From Playoff Race
KXIP’s five-match winning streak ended against Rajasthan led by Steve Smith where batting first, Punjab put a challenging 185-run total on board, riding on a magnificent 63-ball 99 by Chris Gayle.
In reply, Rajasthan Royals’ top-order clicked as a unit as opener Ben Stokes scored 50 from 26 balls and Sanju Samson scored 48 from 25 balls. All of the batsmen were among the runs which saw Rajasthan eventually winning by seven wickets.
In the next match, Punjab failed to put up a decent total on the board, and it was because of Deepak Hooda’s late flourish (30-ball 62*) that the team managed to reach a competitive total of 153.
In response, openers Ruturaj Gaikwad scored an unbeaten 62 off 49 balls, and Faf du Plessis scored 48 off 34 balls adding a formidable 82-run stand for the opening wicket followed by an unbeaten 72-run partnership between Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ambati Rayudu (30* from 30) which took Chennai Super Kings home.