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A great win for Kings XI Punjab

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IPL KXIP vs RR

The Gulf-sponsored team, Kings XI Punjab, beat the Rajasthan Royals by 27 runs

Sunday 26^th April, Sarah Park, Newlands, Cape Town, S. Africa.

The Gulf-sponsored IPL cricket team, the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), beat the Rajasthan Royals (RR) to charge up the league table. This was a match in the 2009 Indian Premier League cricket competition, held in S. Africa rather than India because of security concerns. It is incredible how successfully the series has been transferred from India to S Africa with only a few weeks' notice: the organizers have really done a great job.
	The match drew a crowd of thousands, including the Gulf Chairman Sanjay Hinduja and Operations VP Richard Pinchin, who enjoyed a thrilling game. The players' shirts bore the Gulf logo, which was also clearly displayed from time to time on the huge screens next to the scoreboard and on other electronic ground-side hoardings.

The game however, started with a shock. The KXIP opening batsman, Karan Goel, was run out on the very first ball. The innings continued steadily but slowly until the ninth over when the KXIP team was 48 for 4. From then on, Irfan Pathan and Kumar Sangakkara built a solid partnership at the crease. Each boundary was met with a huge cheer from the 17000-strong crowd, the waving of large Gulf-logo cards bearing the number 4 or 6, and a brief act from the Punjab team dancers. The innings closed out at 139 for 6; a total Shane Warne (the RR's captain) thought was easily within his team's reach.
During the interval five Cape Town schoolchildren were lucky winners of a draw which provided them each with a reward of U$ 2000 (approx.) towards their education. The IPL TV crew were also on the lookout for a potential new Bollywood starlet - one of several additional entertaining features of this series of matches which was watched by over 500 million on TV in India.

In the second innings KXIP struck back with a vengeance. In the 2^nd over the two RR opening batsmen's wickets were taken by Irfan Pathan. Three overs later Yusuf Abdulla also took two wickets in one over, and then the spinner Piyush Chawla struck, dismissing two more of the RR team. Each wicket was greeted by huge cheers, fireworks and more dancing. The RR innings proceeded with the KXIP team being urged on from high in the stands by co-owner and Bollywood star, Priety Zinta. Although Shane Warne showed his great experience by stopping the rot, his partnership of 60 runs with Ravindar Jadeja only prolonged the inevitable decision:- RR lost after scoring only 112 by the end of this twenty over match. Then the celebrations for the KXIP team began in earnest.
	Although the senior gentlemen at Lord's cricket ground in London might have reservations about the IPL twenty20 format, the spectacle and excitement was quite incredible. Hardly a minute of the 5 hour long event was quiet and without action. The award presentations were made in the presence of Sanjay Hinduja and the team co-owner, Preity Zinta. Man-of-the-match was Kumar Sangakkara, and the MVP award was presented to Irfan Pathan. KXIP were unlucky in their first two rain-curtailed matches to lose according to the statistical predictions known as the Duckworth-Lewis method, but they won their third match against the Royal Challengers, and this win on Sunday lifted them from 6^th to 3^rd in the IPL table.

Follow the on-going action and the fortunes of the Kings XI Punjab on the official website; www.iplt20.com

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