IPL 2020 in UAE: Kings XI Punjab and Chris Gayle stun Royal Challengers Bangalore – in pictures

Virat Kohli and his Royal Challengers Bangalore took on KL Rahul's Kings XI Punjab in Sharjah on Thursday evening in the Indian Premier League.

Bottom side KXIP were boosted by the news that Chris Gayle was finally fit to play, having been sidelined so far in IPL 13.

RCB won the toss and chose to bat first. They made a decent start with Aaron Finch (20) and Devdutt Padikkal (18) getting early runs.

Skipper Virat Kohli continued his rich vein of form with the bat as he smashed 48 off 39 balls as Washington Sundar put on 13 at No. 4.

Shivam Dube also contributed with 23 runs at a Sharjah ground known for big scores.

However, AB de Villiers fell for 2 before Chris Morris (25) and Isuru Udana (10) closed out the innings to put RCB on 171-6.

KXIP knew they would need to come put flying to chase down their target and Mayank Agarwal played his part as opener with 45 off 25 balls.

KL Rahul played a captain's knock as he hit an unbeaten 61 off 49 balls.

When Agarwal fell, that was Chris Gayle's cue to make his IPL bow for 2020.

And the big-hitting West Indies veteran did not disappoint as he put on 53 from 45 balls, including five sixes. However...

KXIP again made it dangerously hard for themselves. The match was in the bag with three overs to go, with Rahul and Gayle only needing 11 runs off 18 balls. But they almost had one of the biggest chokes in IPL history. They could not find the runs and they must have feared the worst when Gayle was run out on the penultimate ball with the scores tied.

However, replacement Nicholas Pooran smashed the last ball for six, much to the relief of King XI Punjab, as they secured only their second win of the IPL at the expense of Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore.