IPL 2019, KXIP vs SRH: Punjab ride Rahul and Mayank fifties to overcome Sunrisers' challenge

KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal struck fluent half-centuries to guide Kings XI Punjab to a six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in a nail-biting Indian Premier League match on Monday.

Opting to bat, Kings XI first restricted Sunrisers to 150 for four and then rode on Rahul and Agarwal's knocks to chased down the target in 19.5 overs.

Rahul (71*) and Agarwal (55) stitched 114 runs off 84 balls for the second wicket to take Kings XI close to the target.

Chasing 151 for a win, Kings XI lost dangerous Chris Gayle (16) in the fourth over with their scoreboard reading 18.

Gayle struck a four and a six each before Deepak Hooda took a brilliant catch at long-on boundary off Rashid Khan's (1/20) bowling to sent packing the West Indian.

Rahul and Agarwal then complemented each other brilliantly as the duo mixed caution with aggression to literally take the game away from Sunrisers.

But Sandeep Sharma (2/21) picked up two wickets -- Agarwal and David Miller -- in the 18th over to change the complexion of the match.

The pressure shifted to Kings XI in no time as they needed 11 runs off the last over off Nabi but Sam Curran (5 not out) and Rahul played sensibly without committing any harakiri to reach home with a ball to spare.

Earlier, David Warner struck his fourth fifty of the season before Hooda played a cameo in the final over to lift Sunrisers to a challenging 150 for four. 

Sunrisers suffered an early blow in the form of Jonny Bairstow (1) after being sent into bat.

Promoted up the order, Nabi (12) fell victim to an unfortunate run out after adding just 24 runs with Warner.

Warner and Manish Pandey (19) then added 55 runs for the fourth wicket to take Sunrisers forward before Hooda finished off the innings in style to give Sunrisers' bowlers a total to defend.