Cape Town, April 26: Defending champions Rajasthan Royals folded like a pack of cards against the Kings XI bowling attack, slumping to a 27-run loss in their Indian Premier League match here on Sunday.

Having set a competitive 140 to win courtesy Kumar Sangakkara’s 60, Kings XI pacers Irfan Pathan (2/26) and Yusuf Abdullla (3/21) used the slow nature of the pitch to great effect to restrict Royals to 112/7 in 20 overs.

For the Rajasthan side, only Shane Warne and Ravindra Jadeja put up a semblance of a fight, racking up 60 runs for the seventh wicket to inch close to the Punjab outfit’s 139/6. Despite their efforts though, the Royals were handed their second loss in four games.

Earlier, Sangakkara hit a patient half-century to resurrect Kings XI Punjab’s innings. Opting to bat, Kings XI Punjab made a disastrous start, losing three crucial wickets of Karan Goel (0), Ravi Bopara (11) and skipper Yuvraj Singh (2) within a span of 6.1 overs with only 38 runs on board.

Kumar Sangakkara (60 off 51 balls) and Irfan Pathan (39 off 33 balls) then stitched a valuable 75-run partnership to resurrect Punjab’s innings. Sangakkara hit seven fours and a six, while Irfan’s innings was studded with a couple of fours and equal number of hits over the rope.

Earlier, a terrible mix-up resulted in opener Goel’s wicket with Ravindra Jadeja and Asnodkar completing the proceedings for the Royals. Pacer Kamran Khan then dealt a severe blow to the Mohali team, removing Ravi Bopara who failed to negotiate his slower delivery and was caught at mid-on by Munaf Patel.

Scores: Kings XI Punjab 139/6 (K. Sangakkara 60, I Pathan 39, Kamran Khan 2/15, M. Patel 2/24) bt Rajasthan Royals 112/7 (Y. Pathan 10, Ravindra Jadeja 37, S. Warne 34 not out, I. Pathan 2/26, Y. Abdulla 3/21, P. Chawla 2/22)