The Royals had won their opening two matches of the competition but, just three days on from the highest successful run chase in IPL history against Kings XI Punjab, turned in a miserable display with the bat.
Rajasthan, set 175 to win, tallied 12 runs off their first over - led by Jos Buttler (21) - but the signs of their subsequent struggles were there as Steve Smith came unstuck at the hand of international team-mate Pat Cummins (1-13) in the second.
Another big dismissal followed in the fifth over as Sanju Samson dragged Shivam Mavi (2-20) to midwicket and Buttler's departure to the same man prompted a flurry with two more wickets supplied by Kamlesh Nagarkoti (2-13) in the eighth over.
Rahul Tewatia had improbably inspired the dramatic victory over Kings XI last time out and similar heroics were required as he arrived at the crease.
There was a solitary six, but Tewatia (14) was beaten by Varun Chakravarthy (2-25), who found the middle stump, as the odds increasingly stacked against the Royals.
Curran made a fine 54 off 36, yet his side fell well short of the Knight Riders' 174-6, a target which might have been even greater but for Jofra Archer's (2-18) return to form with the ball.
The Knight Riders' top score came from opener Shubman Gill (47), who hit five fours and a maximum before handing Archer a simple catch off his own bowling.
Andre Russell sought to pick up the mantle and accelerated Kolkata's scoring with 16 runs off the 13th over, but he too departed as he picked out Jaydev Unadkat at the boundary attempting his fourth six of the innings.
It was left to Eoin Morgan to boost the total as he ended unbeaten on 34, surviving a scare off more dangerous Archer bowling, although it ultimately would have mattered little.
OUTSTANDING ARCHER
The Royals' star bowler was a dismal 0-46 in their dramatic victory on Sunday, but he was in the mood this time. A rapid first over saw just one run and set the tone, before he crucially caught Gill off his own bowling at the start of his next stint.
Archer's pace slowed Russell briefly and then saw Dinesh Karthik edge behind. He might have added the scalp of Morgan, too, had Tom Curran not dropped his England captain over the boundary.
"It's a different wicket here," Archer explained at the end of the innings. "You can hit length a bit more confidently."
KKR KIDS DO DAMAGE
Cummins made a superb start against Smith, another of the world's best bowlers following opponent Archer's lead, but it was the Knight Riders' younger stars who really sparkled.
Mavi and Nagarkoti are 21 and 20 respectively but both have missed long stretches in recent years due to back injuries, with the younger man not making his IPL debut until this season.
They shone against more experienced players on Wednesday, though, with Mavi crucially getting Samson and Buttler as the Royals started to recover from Smith's wicket.
Gaikwad replaced KL Rahul as the leading run-scorer in the 2021 tournament, hitting a six off the final ball of CSK's innings to finish unbeaten on 101 off 60 balls.
The opener struck five sixes in a sensational knock, with Ravindra Jadeja scoring a rapid 32 not out in the Super Kings' 189-4 at Zayed Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
Rahul Tewatia took 3-39 but it was a tough day for the Royals bowlers, Mustafizur Rahman going for 51 off his wicket-less four overs.
A big run chase was no problem for the Royals, though, as they cruised to a what could be a vital win with 15 balls to spare in an Abu Dhabi run-fest.
Shivam Dube (64no from 42) struck a brilliant maiden IPL half-century after Yashasvi Jaiswal made 50 from just 21 balls, with Josh Hazlewood (0-54) and Sam Curran (0-55) given the treatment.
Victory for the Royals leaves them in sixth place with two games of the regular season to play, behind Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings on net run-rate.
CSK are already assured of a play-off place but are not guaranteed a top-two finish after their four-game winning run came to an end in MS Dhoni's 200th match as an IPL captain.
Gaikwad takes Royals to all parts
The Rajasthan bowlers were taken to all parts by an inspired Gaikwad, who set the tone by hitting the first ball of the match from Akash Singh for four.
He brought up a seventh IPL half-century off 43 balls and then cut loose, taking 71 off 30 deliveries and reaching three figures by launching Mustafizur for a huge six.
Gaikwad has 19 runs more than Rahul in the battle for the orange cap, having found the rope nine times to go with his five sixes in a breathtaking innings.
Dube and Jaiswal stun CSK
It was the turn of the CSK bowlers to suffer as Jaiswal and Evin Lewis (27 off 12) made a blistering start to the run chase, putting on 77 in 5.2 overs.
Teenager Jaiswal had his half-century off only 19 balls, striking Hazlewood for two sixes in a fifth over that cost 22 runs before falling to KM Asif to leave the Super Kings on 81-2.
Dube then came to the fore in a stand of 89 with captain Sanju Samson (28), bringing up a maiden fifty from 31 deliveries in a knock that included four sixes, and debutant Glenn Phillips hit the winning run to end the Royals' run of three consecutive defeats.
The Royals appeared in danger of suffering a fifth straight loss when, replying to Hyderabad's total of 158-4, they were left needing 54 from the final four overs in their run chase.
However, Rahul Tewatia and Riyan Parag combined to see their team home with a delivery to spare, the latter sealing victory with a towering six over cover.
Tewatia, though, had crucially gone after Hyderabad's key bowler in Rashid Khan, the leg-spinner's final over - the 18th of the innings - leaking 14, as he smashed 45 off 28 deliveries.
Parag finished up unbeaten on 42 from 26 as an unbroken stand worth 85 covered for the failures of the big names at the top of the order, including the returning Ben Stokes.
The England all-rounder had earlier sent down just a solitary over as the Sunrisers set a competitive target thanks to contributions from captain David Warner (48) and Manish Pandey, who made 54.
STOKES BACK, BUT ARCHER HITS THE SPOT
It was a low-key comeback to cricket for Stokes. Having not played since August for family reasons, he made six from five balls as an opener for the Royals when batting alongside Jos Buttler (16).
Instead, it was Jofra Archer who was the top-performing England player in action. He bowled a seriously quick over up front to international team-mate Jonny Bairstow, then returned later in the innings to emphatically clean up Warner as the Sunrisers skipper looked to cut loose.
TEWATIA TURNS THE TABLES
It seemed the Sunrisers were set to prevail having knocked over the Royals' top order cheaply, including running out Steve Smith for five.
Yet Tewatia had other ideas, particularly when it came the pivotal over from Rashid. Having gone for just 12 from his previous three, the Afghanistan bowler was the subject of two outrageous reverse sweeps, both of which went to the boundary.
The ECB on Friday stated that paceman Archer has been ruled out of England's Test tour of Sri Lanka and the IPL due to a low-grade stress fracture of his right elbow.
Archer is due to commence a rehabilitation programme with the ECB medical team with a view to facing West Indies in a three-match Test series in June.
Yet the Royals, who signed the quick for 7.2 crore (£800,000) in the 2018 IPL auction, have not given up hope of Archer playing in a tournament that gets under way at the end of March and finishes on May 24.
Rajasthan head coach Andrew McDonald told ESPNcricinfo: "It is a blow but these things always confront teams. These are the setbacks that you have to contend with.
"First and foremost, our thoughts are with Jofra. Getting an elbow injury when you are at the top of your game is far from ideal, but watching him from afar it's been great to see what he's been able to achieve.
"We'll see what happens. The ECB have been reasonably solid on ruling him out of the IPL, but we still hold out some hope that he may recover.
"We'll get those details over the next 24-48 hours as to the extent of the injury, and we'll work with the ECB as to what that may or may not look like.
"I'm sure he's keen [to play in the IPL]. He loves playing for Rajasthan, but injuries happen, and until more details come to light, we will always hold out hope for a player of that quality.
"It doesn't look good at the moment, but we won't be in any rush to replace him at this moment in time."
The winners of Sunday's match would lead the competition through five rounds, with the big-scoring Royals in command coming into this meeting.
But their hopes of protecting that position were hit by the early wickets of openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler in reply to 177-7.
Shubman Gill (45) and David Miller (46) had led the Titans to that strong total, meaning Rajasthan required an improbable turnaround after losing their two leading scorers and initially struggling to get going thereafter
Captain Sanju Samson stepped up with a swift 60, though, and Shimron Hetmyer got them over the line despite a fine bowling performance from Mohammad Shami, who added to the dismissal of Buttler with two more late wickets.
Hetmyer crucially remained in the middle and completed the comeback with his fifth six to finish on 56 off 26, with the Royals 179-7 with four balls remaining.
Titans take out Rajasthan openers
Jaiswal and Buttler opened together for the fourth time this year, aiming to build on the success of those previous three matches, all of which ended in Rajasthan victories. Buttler made fifties in each of those matches, with Jaiswal joining him on two occasions, too.
But both batters were out before the end of the third over, a wicket maiden for Shami (3-25) that reduced the Royals to 4-2. At that stage, it seemed the Titans had halted the reply before it had even got going.
Royals rally to another big score
Even with Jaiswal and Buttler contributing only a run between them, the Royals retained some spectacular batting power. They have scored 175 or more in every one of their five matches this year, showing the scale of the task for any opponent looking to take them out of the game.
Jaiswal plundered 77 from 43 deliveries to propel the Royals to 202-5 from their 20 overs on Thursday.
The Royals opener finally succumbed to Tushar Deshpande in the 14th over, though the damage had been done, with Rajasthan having reached 132 at that stage.
Jos Buttler scored 27 as he helped mount an opening-wicket partnership of 86 with Jaiswal, who also saw Sanju Samson come and go.
Dhruv Jurel added 34 from 15 balls and Devdutt Padikkal tallied up an unbeaten 27 from 13 to nudge the Royals over the 200 mark.
Despite Ruturaj Gaikwad's 47, the Super Kings lacked the pace needed in the chase, and his stand was ended by the brilliant Zampa in the 10th over, who took 3-22.
Shivam Dube's 52 handed Chennai hope, yet with Zampa sending Moeen Ali packing, the Super Kings were battling against the odds.
In the end they just did not have enough, Dube's dismissal in the final over capping off a fine win for the Royals.
IPL first for the Royals
No team had surpassed the 200 milestone in an IPL match played in Jaipur until now, with the Royals holding that unique record.
They are onto 10 points and sit top of the pile.
Jaiswal the star of the show
While Zampa impressed with the ball, it was Jaiswal's knock that really put the Royals in command.
The opener struck 12 boundaries, including four sixes, with his 77 coming at a strike rate of 179.06.
Mumbai had lost all eight games, but finally got up and running with a five-wicket victory at the DY Patil Stadium on Saturday.
Run machine Jos Buttler yet again top scored with 67 off 52 balls as the second-placed Royals posted 158-6 and that was not enough to consign the Indians to another defeat.
Suryakumar Yadav (51 from 39) laid the platform for the win and with four needed from the last over, Sams stepped up to win it on captain Rohit's 35th birthday after Kieron Pollard fell to Kuldeep Sen.
Hrithik Shokeen claimed the early wicket of Devdutt Padikkal and the Royals were 54-2 in the eight over when Sanju Samson departed.
Buttler had only 28 off as many balls halfway through Rajasthan's innings and Daryl Mitchell was also unable to get into full flow before he was removed by Sams.
The powerful Buttler had not struck a six until he exploded into life in the 16th over, disdainfully dispatching Shokeen over the ropes from four successive deliveries before he was caught in the deep off the last ball of that over.
Ravichandran Ashwin added a brisk 21 before he was dismissed by the impressive Riley Meredith (2-24) and the India spinner claimed the scalp of Rohit for two in the third over of the run chase.
Yadav and Tilak Varma (35) put 81 on for the third wicket, but departed in quick succession to Yuzvendra Chahal and Prasidh Krishna to leave the game in the balance.
The nerves were jangling when Mitchell caught Pollard in the deep from the first ball of the last over, but Sams launched a huge six into the leg side to raise the root and Tim David was unbeaten on 20 off nine balls.
Normal service resumed by brilliant Buttler
It has been an incredible IPL for Buttler, who is comfortably the leading run-scorer in the tournament with 566 at an average of 70.75 with a strike rate of 155.06.
He struggled to get going after making eight against Royal Challengers Bangalore last time out, but brutally took Shokeen part to reach another half-century from 48 balls before departing trying to hit the spinner over the rope for a fifth time in the 16th over.
Yadav a shining light
It has been a nightmare season for Mumbai – the most successful IPL franchise – but Yadav has been a shining light.
While Rohit has been unable to register a half-century in the tournament, Yadav now has three and averages 48.33, sitting sixth on the list of the highest scorers.
CSK kicked off the IPL's 13th season with a five-wicket win over Mumbai Indians, however, they were comfortably second best on Tuesday in Sharjah.
Samson and captain Smith laid the foundation for Rajasthan with a second-wicket partnership of 121 as they set CSK a target of 217.
Had CSK triumphed it would have marked the highest successful chase in IPL history.
However, they never came close to doing so despite an opening partnership of 56 between Shane Watson and Murali Vijay and a powerful 37-ball 72 from Faf du Plessis.
Three sixes in the final over from MS Dhoni saw the record for most maximums in an IPL match tied as the teams combined for 33.
A comfortable Rajasthan success did not appear on the cards when opener Yashasvi Jaiswal fell for six in the third over.
But Samson (74) and Smith (69) tipped the balance of the contest firmly in favour of Rajasthan.
Samson was in destructive form as he bludgeoned the CSK attack, a four and nine sixes marking a devastating 32-ball stay at the crease.
Lungi Ngidi dismissed Samson when a wide delivery outside off was hit to deep cover and David Miller was run out for a duck two balls later.
Smith held the innings together until he fell with 10 balls remaining, with Jofra Archer then adding the finishing touches as he struck Ngidi for four successive sixes - including two off no-balls - in a final over that went for 30.
Rahul Tewatia dealt with the dangerous Watson, whose 33 comprised of four sixes, sending a delivery crashing into his leg stump.
Shreyas Gopal removed Murali (21) five balls later before Tewatia had Sam Curran and Ruturaj Gaikwad stumped in successive deliveries.
Kedar Jadhav's (22) exit left an unlikely fightback on the shoulders of the experienced duo of Du Plessis and Dhoni.
Du Plessis did the heavy lifting in spectacular fashion, with three sixes in the 17th over giving CSK faint hope that was snuffed out when an Archer bouncer did him for pace.
Smith shows his class
Smith returned from a head injury suffered during Australia's recent limited-overs tour of England and did so in fine fashion, scoring his first half-century in any format since February.
Archer adds crucial runs
Archer's incredible final-over contribution made sure a mammoth total was out of reach for CSK and he then produced a brilliant bouncer to remove the in-form Du Plessis and put the contest to bed.
"My stuff is still left in the room," the 25-year-old said in an interview, indicating that he will be returning to India to see out the rest of the IPL.
Royals are in third place and are looking like one of the better placed teams to make the playoffs which are set to begin on May 24.
However, the player has not made himself available for the West Indies white-ball tours of the Netherlands and Pakistan starting later this month.
Hetmyer left Mumbai on Sunday morning on the back of another high-impact cameo - 31 not out off 16 balls against Punjab Kings that helped seal a chase of 190.
Holder was involved in four dismissals as SRH restricted the Royals to 154 for 6. He ran out opener Robin Uthappa for 19 and later bowled the dangerous Sanju Samson for 36. In his final over spell, he took the wickets of Steven Smith for 19 and Riyan Parag for 20 to return impressive figures of 3 for 33.
Manish Panday’s unbeaten 47-ball 83 and Vijay Shankar, who was not out on a patient 52, then posted a 140-run stand to take SRH home with 11 balls to spare.
Afterwards, a pleased SRH Captain David Warner said it all started with the bowling.
"It was a stunning performance. We were able to bring them back after Powerplay. All in all, the kind of game we were asking for,” he said while singling out the West Indies captain Holder for special praise.
“Jason adds an extra string to our bow. His height. His experience. And he couldn't bat today, but he is an all-round package,” said Warner of the Barbadian allrounder, who was called up in September to replace Australian Mitchell Marsh who suffered an ankle injury in SRH’s first match of the season during a loss to the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The England all-rounder missed the start of the tournament after heading to New Zealand to spend time with his family following his father Ged's brain cancer diagnosis.
Stokes has been in his country of birth since being given permission to leave the England squad following the victory over Pakistan in the first Test at Old Trafford early in August.
The 29-year-old said his "head wasn't in it" during that win in Manchester after he discovered his father's diagnosis.
Stokes is now set to return to action in the IPL once he has undergone the mandatory six-day quarantine following his arrival in Dubai.
He posted pictures of himself on Instagram with his family on Saturday with a caption of "Goodbye's [sic] never get easier."
The Royals then tweeted: "Hi guys, quick question. How long does it take from Christchurch to UAE?" followed by a picture of Stokes on a plane.
Stokes was ruled out of the remainder of the Indian Premier League season after suffering the injury when he ran in from the boundary to claim a low catch and dismiss Punjab Kings batsman Chris Gayle in the Rajasthan Royals' first game of the tournament, which they lost by four runs on Monday.
An ECB statement read: "England all-rounder Ben Stokes will be out for up to 12 weeks after a repeat X-ray and CT scan on Thursday revealed that he has a fracture of his left index finger.
"Stokes, who is currently in India with Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, will fly home tomorrow [Saturday]. He will have surgery in Leeds on Monday."
That timeline means Stokes will miss England's two-Test series with New Zealand in June as well as Sri Lanka's limited-overs tour of the country.
However, he could play some part in the ODI and T20I series with Pakistan, while he is scheduled to recover in time to face India in a five-match Test series starting August 4.
England get their summer schedule under way against New Zealand at Lord's on June 2.
The England all-rounder was in imperious form in Abu Dhabi, hitting an unbeaten 107 off 60 balls to keep the Royals – who had started the day bottom of the table – in the play-off picture.
Mumbai, who remain top, had the chance to seal a play-off spot of their own with a win and they put themselves in a commanding position with a total of 195-5.
Hardik Pandya was the star of their innings, striking an unbeaten 60 off 21 balls. His knock, which included seven sixes and two fours, was the fourth-fastest of this season's IPL.
Mumbai opener Ishan Kishan went for 37 in spectacular circumstances, with Stokes' England team-mate Jofra Archer taking an acrobatic one-handed catch by the boundary.
The Indians might have thought they had done enough to secure an eighth win in 11 games this season but Stokes and Sanju Samson had other ideas, the pair putting on a third-wicket stand of 152 from 82 balls to take the Royals home with 10 balls to spare
Rajasthan move up to sixth in the table with 10 points from their 12 games, while the result condemns Chennai Super Kings, who had thumped Royal Challengers Bangalore earlier in the day, to elimination.
STOKES FINALLY ARRIVES IN THIS SEASON'S IPL
Stokes had struggled to make an impact in the IPL before his match-winning turn on Sunday, scoring just 110 runs off 103 balls in this season's competition. The 29-year-old said he felt in confident mood ahead of Sunday's game thanks to a positive training session a day earlier.
"I'm a bit taken aback by why it's taken me so long to get into the tournament for the team," he said. "To be honest, the training I've had yesterday was the best I had throughout my time here, so I came into this with a bit of confidence. It was coming on nicely."
ARCHER PLAYS HIS PART
Archer set the stage for Stokes' heroics with a fine display in the field. His catch from Kishan was a thing of beauty, while he also removed Quinton de Kock and Saurabh Tiwary on six and 34 respectively.
Captain Sanju Samson made 82 for the Royals, yet their total of 164-5 was no problem for a Sunrisers team out who saw Jason Roy star at the top of the order.
The England batsman – selected ahead of the out-of-sorts David Warner – made 60 from 42 deliveries on his debut for the franchise, in the process giving their run chase a solid start.
Kane Williamson made sure there were few alarms with an unbeaten half-century, the Sunrisers captain helping reach the victory target with nine balls to spare.
Abhishek Sharma ended up on 21 not out as the Royals missed out on doing the double over their opponents for the first time in the round-robin stage of an IPL season.
Sunrisers avoid unwanted record
Despite the impressive triumph, Hyderabad remain bottom of the table. Still, they at least avoided losing six in a row for the first time ever in the competition's history.
Roy certainly made the most of his opportunity, hitting a solitary six and eight fours. While both he and Priyam Garg, out for a first-ball duck, fell in quick succession, Williamson's unbeaten 51 saw the Sunrisers coast home.
Samson strong again as he reaches milestone
Samson sure likes playing the Sunrisers. His 57-ball knock saw him become the highest scorer against them, while he also moved past 3,000 IPL runs in his career.
Yashasvi Jaiswal made 36 and Mahipal Lomror contributed an unbeaten 29 with the bat for Rajasthan, though a second successive defeat damages their hopes of making the play-offs.
Moeen Ali contributed with both bat and ball as the Super Kings proved far too strong for their opponents at the Wankhede Stadium.
The Royals had prevailed in four of their previous five games at the Mumbai ground - including last time out against Delhi Capitals in a thriller - but fell away badly in reply to Chennai's total of 188-9.
Jos Buttler provided the only innings of note from the top order in the run chase, making 49 from 35 deliveries with five fours and a pair of sixes.
Rajasthan were in contention at 87-2 in their reply, but Buttler's departure - bowled by Ravindra Jadeja - sparked a collapse that saw five wickets fall for eight runs. They finished up on 143-9.
Jadeja finished with 2-28 but fellow spinner Moeen was the pick of the attack, the England all-rounder taking 3-7 from his three overs having earlier made 26 in Chennai's innings.
Faf du Plessis top-scored with 33 as all the top five reached double figures, while the Super Kings demonstrated their strength in depth when Dwayne Bravo made 20 not out from number nine in the order.
Royals run into trouble
Despite a miserable overall record, Rajasthan had won back-to-back matches against Chennai. However, they were unable to equal their longest winning run against them.
Buttler did his best but there was little support from the rest of the top order, the Super Kings' spinners emphatically turning the game in their favour.
All-round balance helps Chennai
Moeen Ali is the only player to reach three figures for runs and also claim a wicket so far in the 2021 IPL season.
His signing by the Super Kings in the auction appears an astute piece of business, particularly as the left-handed batsman has capitalised on his opportunities to bat up the order.
Royals captain Samson marked his milestone game with a fantastic innings, blazing 55 from 27 balls as he hit five of his team's 14 maximums, helping them to 210-6.
The Royals got contributions right down the order at MCA Stadium, with opener Jos Buttler (35) making the most of an early let-off having been caught off a no-ball to set the tone alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal (20).
New signing Devdutt Padikkal added 41 and Shimron Hetmyer's rapid knock (32 from 13) provided a quick finish as Rajasthan set an imposing target.
The Sunrisers reply was over before it really began. Skipper Kane Williamson (2) was the first to go on his return from injury, while Rahul Tripathi and Nicholas Pooran were both dismissed for ducks.
That left them in disarray at 9-3 inside five overs, and while Aiden Markram (57) steadied things and Washington Sundar (40 from 14) showed some flair, the result was long beyond doubt as the Sunrisers ultimately reached 149-7 from their 20 overs.
More misery for Sunrisers
These teams were the bottom two in last season's IPL, but on this early evidence the Royals look much more likely to improve their fortunes.
Sunrisers won only three of their 14 matches last season to finish bottom of the standings and this heavy defeat will do little to inspire confidence of a turnaround.
But Rajasthan, who have been either seventh or eighth in the table for three straight years, produced a complete performance.
Samson, having scored 82 the last time these teams met, was fantastic once more and Yuzvendra Chahal took 3-22 while Prasidh Krishna's first three overs went for just two runs before he finished on 2-16.
Royals first to defend a total
It has been a thrilling start to the 2022 IPL, with the chasing team – sometimes in improbable circumstances – finding a way to win in each of the first four matches this season.
But the Royals ensured that streak came to an end here by becoming the first side to defend a total.
Unlike those contests which came before, it quickly became apparent which way this result was going. The Sunrisers never got themselves back in with a chance after the Royals accelerated to set a high target.
Steve Smith, Sanju Samson and Rahul Tewatia all made key contributions with the bat as the Royals pulled off a stunning four-wicket triumph to make it two from two in the early stages of the 2020 season.
Agarwal shared in an opening stand worth 183 with in-form skipper KL Rahul as he made a magnificent 106, helping Kings XI post 223-2 after being put into bat.
Nicholas Pooran produced a late cameo, making 25 from just eight deliveries, though his most notable contribution came later in the field with a gravity-defying stop in the deep.
Rajasthan lost Jos Buttler early in their reply, yet captain Smith made 50 in a hurry to make sure his team remained up with the required rate.
Samson top scored with 85 from just 42 deliveries but, after he became the first of three wickets for seamer Mohammed Shami, Tewatia took over.
The left-hander vindicated his unexpected promotion up the order, overcoming a sluggish start to blast his team towards their target. Sheldon Cottrell suffered the most, taken for five sixes in an over that cost 30.
Jofra Archer smashed two maximums to finish 13 not out before fellow England international Tom Curran delivered the winning blow, sending his first ball to the boundary midway through the last over.
OPENERS CAUSE ROYAL ISSUES
Having made 132 not out against Bangalore Royal Challengers last time, right-hander Rahul was again in the runs for Kings XI.
The India batsman made 69 from 54 deliveries but played second fiddle to opening partner Agarwal, who hit seven sixes and 10 fours to reach three figures from just 49 deliveries.
Their partnership is the third highest for the first wicket in the competition, while this was Agarwal's maiden IPL century.
POORAN TAKES OFF
Samson appeared to have hit Murugan Ashwin for six when he launched the spinner deep to midwicket in the eighth over of the Royals' innings.
However, Pooran had other ideas. Leaping backwards beyond the boundary, he managed to catch the ball before flicking it back into play prior to him hitting the ground, timing the release to perfection.
COTTRELL GOES THE DISTANCE
Tewatia, whose solitary over with the ball went for 19 runs, had 17 to his name from 23 balls at one stage. Then, with 51 required from the final three overs, everything changed - most notably his strike-rate.
He certainly took a liking to Cottrell's bowling, turning what appeared to be a tall order into a straightforward equation.
A solitary dot ball spared the left-armer completing the unwanted full set of sixes in the over, but the sudden onslaught turned the game at a crucial stage.
