IPL 2020: Agarwal hits maiden ton, guides Punjab to 223

Sharjah - Punjab were asked to bat first and in-form openers went blazing by punishing pacers and spinners alike.

Mayank Agarwal (50-ball 106) smashed his maiden IPL century and shared a 183-run opening partnership with skipper KL Rahul (54-ball 69 runs) to steer Kings XI Punjab to 223/2 runs against Rajasthan Royals at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Punjab were asked to bat first and in-form openers went blazing by punishing pacers and spinners alike. Dealing in sixes and boundaries, Agarwal, the aggressor of the two, raced to his 50 from 26 balls.
After 10 overs, the Punjab openers had added 110 runs as skipper Steven Smith kept rotating bowlers but failed to find a breakthrough.
It was a treat to watch as Rahul kept taking a single at the very start of the over to give the strike to a rampaging Agarwal, who plonked maximums with ease. Rahul too sailed to his 50 from 35 balls.
Agarwal took just 45 balls to raise his 100, which was studded with 9 sixes and 7 boundaries. But he perished in the slog overs to Tom Curran.
Ankit Rajpoot pulled things back with quick scalp of Rahul but Glenn Maxwell and Nicholas Pooran set a target of 223 to chase.
Royals have strengthened their batting with the induction of Jos Buttler, who with Smith and Sanju Samson can chase this total on Sharjah ground.

• IPL 2019