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Chandigarh: A gritty knock by Ajinkya Rahane and decent contributions from Shane Watson and Sanju Samson steered Rajasthan to an easy 8-wicket victory over Punjab.
Despite losing skipper Rahul Dravid early, Royals face no difficulty in chasing the 146-run target at the slow Mohali track.
Rahane hit third fifty in a row and stayed unbeaten after scoring 59.
Left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma bowled out Rahul Dravid, inflicting first blow to Rajasthan Royals. Dravid (4) was dismissed in the second over with just five runs on board.
Rahane and Watson then steadied Rajasthan and shared 66-run stand for the second wicket.
Punjab spinner Piyush Chawla gave Rajasthan second blow in the 10th over by bowling out Shane Watson.
Watson's 31 came off 25 balls and were studded with three boundaries and a six.
Rahane and Samson (47), however, didn't allow Punjab any further success and pulled off an easy victory for the visitors.
Rajasthan Royals bowlers maintained discipline despite an attractive half-century by Shaun Marsh and an equally useful contribution from Adam Gilchrist, to restrict Kings XI Punjab to 145 for six.
Marsh (77) and Gilchrist (42) added 102 runs for the second wicket but Rajasthan Royals bowlers, led by Kevon Cooper (3/23), put the brakes during the death overs.
The last seven overs of the innings produced only 45 runs and Kings XI lost five wickets in the process.
Man of the moment, David Miller, was also snapped up by Cooper with Rahane taking a catch at deep mid-wicket. The momentum was lost as Kings XI finished much below what was expected of them after being 100/1 after 13 overs.
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals captain Dravid has won the toss and he invite Kings XI Punjab to bat.
Four changes in the Rajasthan side. Even Punjab have made their own set of changes, including the captain himself.
Rahul Dravid makes a mention of having to play four games in seven days across Kolkata, Jaipur and Mohali.
Punjab have brought back Gilchrist and Bipul Sharma comes in too, Neser left out.
Rajasthan have Yagnik, Chandila, Sreesanth and Cooper. No Stuart Binny, he seems to be injured.
Teams
Kings XI Punjab: Adam Gilchrist (captain & wk), Mandeep Singh, Shaun Marsh, David Hussey, David Miller, Bipul Sharma, Rajagopal Sathish, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar, Manpreet Gony, Parvinder Awana
Rajasthan Royals: Rahul Dravid (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson, Brad Hodge, Sanju Samson, Dishant Yagnik (wk), Kevon Cooper, James Faulkner, Siddharth Trivedi, Ajit Chandila, S Sreesanth
Brief scores
Kings XI Punjab 145 for 6 (Marsh 77, Cooper 3-23)
Rajasthan Royals 147 for 2 (Rahane 59*, Samson 47*)
Result Rajasthan Royals won by 8 wickets
Points Rajasthan Royals 2, Kings XI Punjab 0
MOM Kevon Cooper (Rajasthan Royals)
