Lokesh Rahul's joy short-lived as Rishabh Pant wrests back the Orange Cap on IPL 2018 Matchday 36

AFP

The Orange Cap saw plenty of movement on Matchday 36 of IPL 2018 on Saturday. First KXIP's Lokesh Rahul smashed a 29-ball 66 against KKR to overtake DD's Rishabh Pant and claim the Orange Cap. And then a couple of hours later Pant regained it with a 34-ball 61 against RCB.

He took his overall tally to 582 runs in 12 matches and left Lokesh 45 runs behind.  

Meanwhile, KXIP's Andrew Tye picked up 4/41 against KKR to tighten his grip on the Purple Cap with 20 wickets in 11 games. 

Talking about the first game of the day, Kolkata stayed alive in IPL 2018 after an easy 31-run win against Punjab at Indore.

Coming into the match following a 102-run thrashing at the hands of Mumbai, Kolkata needed a win to stay in the play-off hunt and their batsmen responded well to the challenge to script an important victory against Punjab, who suffered their fifth defeat in 11 games.

Chasing a massive 246 to win, Chris Gayle and Lokesh started well with a 53-run opening stand but once the dangerous West Indian was sent back, the KXIP chase, to all intents and purposes, fell apart.

Andre Russell took the first three wickets to completely push KXIP out of the contest. The hosts managed to reach 214/8 and narrow the margin of defeat but in all honesty, they were out of it long ago -- halfway through their innings. It was KKR's sixth win in 12 games.       

In the second game of the day, RCB comfortably beat DD to register their fourth win in 11 games and keep their slim play-off hopes alive in the league.

Chasing 182 to win at the Ferozshah Kotla Stadium, RCB lost both openers - Moeen Ali and Parthiv Patel - early but after that Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers added 118 to bring the chase back on track. 

Kohli eventually departed after a 40-ball 70.

Following his departure, Mandeep Singh and Sarfaraz Khan's wickets gave Delhi a little hope but de Villiers (72 off 37 balls) stayed till the end to quash those hopes completely. RCB chased down the target in 19 overs with five wickets in hand.

It was Delhi's 9th defeat in 12 games.