• Rajasthan egde KXIP in thriller

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    The Rajasthan Royals produced the highest ever successful run chase in IPL history as they beat the Kings XI Punjab by four wickets in a thrilling match on Sunday.

    As they did against the Royal Challengers Bangalore earlier this week, the KXIP made the most of the opportunity to bat first and a brilliant 106 by opener Mayank Agarwal, assisted with a half-century by captain KL Rahul, saw them post a formidable total of 223-2 in their 20 overs.

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    In reply, Steve Smith got the Rajasthan Royals off to a good start as he worked his way to a 50 of his own but when the Australian and Sanju Samson, who struck a magnificent 85 off 42 deliveries, departed, the run rate creeped up even further.

    The Royals required 51 runs from the final three overs of the match, but the 27-year-old Rahul Tewatia announced himself as a new IPL star by striking five sixes from a Sheldon Cottrell over to edge his team back into the contest.

    Mohammed Shami then accounted for the valuable wicket of Robin Uthappa at the start of the penultimate over but England’s Jofra Archer strolled out to the crease and immediately struck back to back sixes as the Royals went in front.

    Tewatia nudged up his half-century with his seven maximum of the evening before eventually falling to Shami.

    Tom Curran sealed the famous victory by hitting Ravi Ashwin for a four in the final over of the match as the Royals move to the top of the IPL log alongside the Delhi Capitals with their second win in as many matches.

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    In an extraordinary comeback, the Royals hit 82 runs in the last four over, which was drastically felt by the KXIP bowlers with Cottrell finishing with figures of 1-52 in only three overs.

    Scorecard

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    Andre Huisamen