Kolkata Knight Riders returned to winning ways as they defeated Punjab Kings easily played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Monday.
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and decided to field first. Punjab Kings openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal started cautiously against some disciplined bowling by KKR bowlers, especially by Mavi. Cummins provided the breakthrough getting rid of KL Rahul who tried to hit a big shot giving an easy catch to Sunil Narine ending 36 runs opening partnership. At the end of the first six overs, Punjab Kings made 37 for 1.
Shivam Mavi got the big wicket of Chris Gayle via a review. The umpire called it not out but on review, it was overturned due to the ball taking the edge. Deepak Hooda also went cheaply providing an easy catch to Eoin Morgan at backward point to leave Punjab Kings in trouble. At the end of the first timeout, Punjab Kings looked in trouble at 46 for 3.
A superb diving catch by Rahul Tripathi ended the innings for Mayank Agarwal. Agarwal struggled with his timing but played some lovely strokes. Punjab Kings batsmen looked out of sorts against KKR bowling. Sunil Narine bowled a beauty to get rid of Moises Henriques. Nicolas Pooran hit his first six of the IPL 2021 before trying to smack the ball out of the ground and was bowled by Chakravarthy. At the end of the second timeout, Punjab Kings made 91 for 6.
Punjab Kings kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Chris Jordan provided the impetus for Punjab Kings hitting a quickfire 30 off 18 balls with 1 four and 3 sixes. He was eventually dismissed by Krishna in the last over. At the end of the 20 overs, Punjab Kings posted just 123 for 9.
Chasing down 124 runs to win, it was not an ideal start for KKR as they lost Nitish Rana in the first over hitting a full-toss straight into the hands of Sharukh Khan. Mohammed Shami dismissed struggling Shubman Gill. Sensational diving by Ravi Bishnoi resulted in the wicket of Sunil Narine to leave KKR in trouble at 17 for 3.
Rahul Tripathi and Eoin Morgan took the advantage of the slippery conditions hitting boundaries keeping the scoreboard ticking. A superb direct throw by Chris Gayle could have resulted in a wicket but Tripathi was inside the crease. At the end of the first six overs, KKR made 42 for 3.
Tripathi and Morgan kept the scoreboard ticking hitting boundaries at will. At the end of the first timeout, KKR scored 68 for 3. Deepak Hooda provided the much-needed breakthrough for Punjab Kings getting rid of Tripathi with a good catch by Sharukh Khan. Tripathi and Morgan added 66 runs for the 4th wicket. Andre Russell looked edgy against Punjab Kings bowlers. At the end of the second timeout, KKR scored 91 for 4.
After the timeout, a superb direct throw by Arshdeep Singh resulted in Andre Russell’s run-out. KKR captain Eoin Morgan was sublime with his strokes. Dinesh Karthik hit the winning runs to help Kolkata register a comfortable 5 wickets win with 20 balls to spare.
Kolkata Knight Riders 126 for 5 in 16.4 overs ( Morgan 47*, Tripathi 41, Shami 1/25) beat Punjab Kings 123 for 9 in 20 overs ( Agarwal 31, Jordan 30, Krishna 3/30) by 5 wickets.
For his unbeaten 47, Eoin Morgan was named the man of the match. KKR moved up to 5th place in the points table.
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