Rajasthan Royals have put an end to Kings XI Punjab’s red-hot form, beating them by seven wickets on Friday.

After lingering in the bottom half of the table, the KL Rahul-led side won all of their last five matches to make a late surge for the qualifier spot.

However, put to bat first, Punjab posted a total of 185/6 from their 20 overs, powered by a scintillating 63-ball 99 from Chris Gayle. Hitting eight maximums in the innings, the Jamaican brought up his 1000th T20 six of his career.

With Ben Stokes leading the charge and bringing up his half-century well within the powerplay, Royals chased down the total in 17.3 overs. Sanju Samson, Steve Smith and Jos Buttler too chipped in with vital knocks to push Rajasthan over the line.

Now Rajasthan stand at No. 5 on the points table with 12 points from matches. Just ahead on the net run-rate is Punjab at No. 4.