Smith tastes defeat on IPL return
Australia's Steve Smith made a modest return to the Indian Premier League yesterday, scoring 20 for his side Rajasthan Royals as they lost to Kings XI Punjab by 14 runs.
Big-hitting Chris Gayle smashed 79 off 47 deliveries to steer Kings XI to 184 for four, a total they defended by restricting Royals to 170 for 9 in the Twenty20 tournament at Jaipur.
However, the match was marred by Jos Buttler's run out when spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took the bails off at the non-striker's end while the batsman was backing up.
The dismissal widely known as 'mankading' is considered to be against cricket's spirit of fair play and England's Buttler, who scored 69 off 43 deliveries, walked dejectedly back to the pavilion after an argument with Ashwin.
The term -- used when a bowler runs out a non-striker before delivery -- was coined 70 years ago. when Indian all-rounder Vinoo Mankad twice ran out Bill Brown at the bowler's end during India's tour of Australia in 1947.
However Royals skipper Ajinkya Rahane played down the controversy and said his team will take it "sportingly".
Smith, who along with compatriot David Warner made his return to the IPL after missing the previous edition due to a ball-tampering controversy, walked out into a charged field of play.
The former Australia captain took time to settle down before hitting England paceman Sam Curran for a four and six in one over.
Curran, who took two wickets, got his revenge in his very next over as he sent Smith trudging back to the pavilion with KL Rahul taking a sharp catch while running to his left from long-on. Bowlers soon struck back as the Royals batting collapsed from 148-2 to 164-9 as a disappointed Smith looked on from the dugout.
SCORES IN BRIEF
Punjab: 184 for 4 in 20 overs (Gayle 79, Khan 46 not out, Agarwal 22; Stokes 2-48, Kulkarni 1-30)
Rajasthan: 170 for 9 in 20 overs (Buttler 69, Samson 30; Mujeeb 2-31, Rajpoot 2-33, Curran 2-52)
Result: Punjab won by 14 runs.
Player-of-the-match: Chris Gayle.
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