Rajasthan Royals 2-147 (Ajinkya Rahane 59*, Sanju Samson 47, Bipul Sharma 1-21) beat Kings XI Punjab 6-145 (Shaun Marsh 77, Adam Gilchrist 42, Kevon Cooper 3-23) by eight Wickets.

A combined team effort by Rajasthan Royals, led by Kevon Cooper with a fine bowling followed by a thoughtful batting by Ajinkya Rahane let Kings XI Punjab down.

Kings XI Punjab scored 145 runs after losing six wickets in the measured 20 overs and Rajasthan Royals reached the destination by smashing 147 with eight wickets remaining and six balls to spare.

Kevon Cooper (Rajasthan Royals) was announced ‘Player of the match’ for his hostile bowling spell of 3-23.

The 55^th match of the Indian Premier League was played on Thursday, May 9, 2013, at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh.

Earlier, Rahul Dravid, the skipper of Rajasthan Royals, won the toss and invited the home side to bat first. The decision paid off instantly as Mandeep Singh was gone on the third ball for a duck and was replaced by Shaun Marsh who got together with his captain, Adam Gilchrist. They started off slowly by scoring 11 runs in the first three overs and hit 3 fours in the next over. Gilchrist got 2 consecutive fours in the sixth over and Marsh geared up by hitting 1 six and 1 four in the next one. Shaun Marsh attained his fifty in the 13^th over with a four as Adam Gilchrist was caught and bowled by Kevon Cooper for 42 off 32 balls with 6 fours.

The second wicket fell at 102 in 13.3 overs and the incoming batsmen were unable to capitalise on the solid foundation. The wickets started crumbling one after another and Shaun Marsh became the fourth victim after scoring 77 off 64 with 2 lofty sixes and 6 fours. Kings XI Punjab managed 145 runs with four wickets still in hand at the end of the 20^th over.

Kevon Cooper was the star performer with three wickets whereas Ajit Chandila, James Faulkner and Shane Watson shared one wicket each.

Rajasthan Royals lost their first wicket at five when Rahul Dravid was clean bowled by Bipul Sharma for just four runs. Shane Watson Joined in with Ajinkya Rahane and reached 38 in six overs with three boundaries from the latter and one from the first. Watson hit the first six of the innings in the seventh over and Rahane followed him by dispatching 2 in the succeeding overs. They enhanced the score to 71 in 9.4 overs when the stumps of Shane Watson were destroyed by Piyush Chawla for 31 off 25 with 1 six and 3 fours.

Sanju Samson got together with Rahane next and they took the score beyond hundred runs in the 15^th over. The target was looking easy as the visitors required just 41 runs to win the game in 30 deliveries. Samson was doing fine at his end while adding useful runs with regular boundaries and Ajinkya Rahane posted his half century on the fifth ball of the 17^th over with two runs. Samson accumulated 11 runs in the 19^th over comprising 1 six and 1 four as the score board displayed 147 for the loss of two wickets. Ajinkya Rahane secured his end for 59 off 49 with 3 sixes and even fours whereas Sanju Samson was at the other side at 47 from 33 deliveries including 1 six and 5 fours.

Rajasthan Royals won the encounter comfortably in the end by a huge margin of eight wickets and took their points tally to 18 after 13 games.