Afghanistan’s spinner Mujeeb Zadran shined in the opening match for Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and as they beat Rajasthan Royals by 14 runs in India’s Jaipur city on Monday night.

Kings XI Punjab defeated Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium to open their campaign at IPL with a win. 

Mujeeb got two wickets for his team at a critical moment.

Chasing 185 runs for victory, the home team were off to a flier as opening batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Jos Buttler added 78 runs for the first-wicket.

Gayle scored 79 off 47 balls and hit eight boundaries and four sixes in the process.

Rahane was dismissed for 27 off 20 by Ravichandran Ashwin. 

Buttler was then joined by Sanju Samson (30) and the pair added 30 runs for the second-wicket. 

The home side was cruising towards the target when a well-settled Buttler was “Mankaded” by Kings XI Punjab’s skipper Ashwin. 

This dismissal was the turning point of the match as Steve Smith, making a comeback into the IPL following his one-year ban, could manage only 20 runs (1 four, 1 six) and was dismissed by Sam Curran. 

This was Kings XI Punjab’s first win in Jaipur.