Picture : Twitter / IPL
Kings XI Punjab continued its remarkable resurgence in this year’s tournament as they recorded their fifth consecutive win. This time they beat the Kolkata Knight Riders by eight wickets to stay in the hunt for play-offs. This win puts them in fourth place. KKR though having same points like Kings slip to fifth spot due to the run-rate.
#KXIP makes its way in the Top 4 in the Points Table after Match 46 of #Dream11IPL pic.twitter.com/PlCAYG6k9R
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 26, 2020
On a slow Sharjah pitch , Kings XI skipper K L Rahul won the toss and elected to field first. And his bowlers responded brilliantly by picking early wickets. KKR’s batting in this tournament has been inconsistent and yet again their batting flopped miserably. Nitish Rana ( 0), Rahul Tripathi ( 7) and Dinesh karthik ( 0) meant KKR were reeling at 10/ 3. But a counter attack by Shubman Gill and skipper Eoin Morgan who put on a 81 run stand threatened to take the game away. The aggression rattled the kings. But when just when it looked like KKR would pose a good total Morgan fell for 25 ball 40 . Then it was familiar collapse. Shubman Gill waged a lone battle with fine ( 57 ) , Lockie Ferguson hit some lusty blows towards the end 23 ( 14 as KKR finished or rather struggled to reach 149/9 in their twenty overs. Their batting once again letting down in crucial match and their play -offs chances are now receding fast.
For the Kings , Mohammed Shami was impressive 3/ 35 (4 overs) , Glenn Maxwell 1/21 ( 2 overs), Murugan Ashwin 1/ 27 ( 4 overs) , Chris Jordan 2/25 ( 4 overs) , Ravi Bishnoi 2/ 20 ( 4 overs)
In reply the Kings lost skipper K L Rahul for 28 at the total of 47 . But the Kings had no such problems later on as Mandeep Singh and Chris Gayle featured in a match-winning 100 run partnership . The duo put them in mere 61 balls to take the game away form KKR. Mandeep Singh scored a fine unbeaten 66 off 56 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes. The Universe Boss Gayle too enjoyed his stint in the and played another blistering innings . 51 off mere 29 balls. Studded with two fours and five sixes . Much to the delight of his team- mates and kings XI co-owner Preity Zinta who was ecstatic in the stands. Nicholas Pooran not out 3 ensured along with unbeaten Mandeep that the Kings romped home by 8 wickets and seven balls to spare. The Kings reached 150/ 2 in 18. 5 overs
KKR bowlers did not have total to defend. Early wickets did not come their way. Pat Cummins 0/31 (4 overs), Prasidh Krishna 0/24 (3 overs) , Varun Chakravarthy 1/ 34 ( 4 overs), Sunil Narine 0/ 27 ( 4 overs), Lockie Ferguson 1/ 32 ( 3.5 overs)
