Kolkata, April 21: Universe Boss Chris Gayle once again stamped his authority and KL Rahul too continued his blitzkrieg in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 to guide Kings XI Punjab to a sensational 9-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders here on Saturday (April 21).
Chasing a big total of 192, the opening duo of Gayle and Lokesh Rahul made a mockery of KKR bowlers from the word go. The destructive batting pair were dealing in sixes and fours and quickly took the score to 96/0 in 8.2 overs before skies opened up to halt the match for almost an hour.
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KXIP were 31 runs ahead by Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) Method as the par score for the chasing side on that instance was 65/0. Gayle was batting on 49* while Rahul was present on 44*.
Rain brings relief to KKR from the mauling being handed out by Gayle and Rahul. But it could get worse since the batsmen also get some rest!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 21, 2018
When the match resumed, the target for Punjab was revised to 125 from 13 overs which meant they needed 29 more runs from next 28 deliveries. The delay hardly made any difference to the form in which Gayle and Rahul were in. Both the openers notched up their respective half-centuries quickly.
A blistering 6⃣0⃣ runs from @klrahul11 makes him the man of the match in #KKRvsKXIP #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/GQbmWjZfd9
— Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) April 21, 2018
The Jamaican swashbuckler notched up his half-century off 28 deliveries while Rahul took just 24 balls to slam another fine fifty. With 9 more runs needed to win, Rahul (60) went for a slog off Sunil Narine but couldn't clear the boundary and was caught at deep mid-wicket by Tom Curran.
The new man-in Mayank Agarwal remained unbeaten on 2 while Gayle smashed his six maximum of the innings and finished things off in style for his team. Punjab won the game by a whopping margin of 9 wickets and 11 balls to spare. With this win, Ashwin and Co. climbed at the top of the points table and now look a formidable side in this season.
KKR ✅ #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi #KKRvKXIP pic.twitter.com/0Yg5dLJJlW
— Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) April 21, 2018
KKR bowlers looked clueless against the batting pair of Gayle and Rahul, who are easily the most explosive openers in this tournament, and could hardly trouble them.
The duo made KKR bowlers Shivam Mavi (3-0-29-0), Andre Russell (1.5-0-31-0), Sunil Narine (3-0-23-1), Piyush Chawla (2-0-24-0) and Kuldeep Yadav (1-0-13-0) look too ordinary with their efforts.
Earlier, Chris Lynn smashed a breezy half-century while skipper Dinesh Karthik played another fine knock to take Kolkata Knight Riders to 191/7.
Lynn smashed 41-ball 74 and Karthik scored 28-ball 43 before Kings XI Punjab bowlers made a solid recovery in the death overs and prevented hosts from taking the hosts past 200, which was in plain sight for the hosts at one stage.
IPL 2018:
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) April 21, 2018
Most runs - Gayle (229)
Most sixes - Gayle (21)
He's raced to the top in just 3 matches after missing the first 2 games. #KKRvKXIP
Andrew Tye (4-0-30-2) was at his economical best while Barinder Sran (4-0-50-2) conceded just 6 runs in his final over, after leaking 44 from his first three bowlers, to prevent the hosts from touching the 200-run mark.
Kolkata were off to a decent start in the powerplay despite losing the wicket of Sunil Narine (1) cheaply. The West Indian was dismissed by Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the second over of the match.
First time Gayle has made 50+ in 3 consecutive innings in IPL. #KKRvKXIP
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) April 21, 2018
Robin Uthappa (34) put up a partnership of 77 runs for the second wicket with Lynn before the Karnataka batsman threw his wicket away as he failed to convert another good start into a big knock. Uthappa was dismissed by Ashwin immediately after the first strategic timeout. Uthappa hit the shortish length ball from Ashwin and the mistimed shot went straight to the man at deep midwicket. The fielder, Karun Nair, didn't have to move an inch and Kings XI got the crucial breakthrough.
Nitish Rana, the match-winner of the previous game couldn't do any damage as he was dismissed for 3. Rana was involved in a miscommunication with his partner on the other end and paid the price. Instead of waiting for the ball to beat the fielder he set off straight away and was left stranded in the middle of the wicket.
Skipper Karthik put up a partnership of 62 runs for the fourth wicket along with Lynn. In the meantime, Lynn notched up his first half-century of the season and it came off just 30 balls. The right-handed batsman from Australia bludgeoned Punjab bowlers all around the park.
Gayle-Rahul....easily the most explosive opening pair in this #IPL #KXIP
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 21, 2018
Lynn looked settled and at one stage it seemed as if he will convert this knock to a century but Tye got his Aussie counterpart and at a crucial time. Maybe fatigue set in as Lynn swung but got a slight under edge through to wicket-keeper KL Rahul. His 41-ball knock comprised six boundaries and four sixes.
Lynn's dismissal opened the floodgates for KKR as they lost their course. Big man Andre Russell (10) too joined Lynn soon into the dugout and skipper Dinesh Karthik's departure in the penultimate over resulted the hosts couldn't touch the 200-run mark.
Karthik used to bowl a lot of spin in the power-play overs....hasn’t used even one today. At least thus far. Trick missed? #KKRvKXIP #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 21, 2018
Despite going for runs early on, Sran came back strongly to get the big wickets of Russell and Karthik in death overs. Ultimately, Punjab could only manage 11 runs off the last two overs and reached 191/7.
Earlier, Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin won the toss and invited Karthik to bat first on a track that looked good to bat on. Young Mujeeb Ur Rahman (4-0-32-1) was once again at his economical best and justified skipper Ashwin's decision to chase.