Despite a clinical victory in their previous match, Kings XI Punjab arrived at the Eden Gardens fully aware of the enormity of the task that awaited them. Comfortably positioned in the top-half of the table, the Kolkata Knight Riders were looking to continue their momentum at home.
Punjab skipper Murali Vijay won the toss and decided not to allow Knight Riders another opportunity to chase. Despite starting off cautiously, the Gautam Gambhir-led side managed to get to a competitive total. The Kolkata bowlers withstood an onslaught from Glenn Maxwell to hold on to a tense victory.
Let us take a look at the most important statistics from the engrossing encounter.
2 – Instances where none of the wickets that fell in a completed T20 innings were taken by bowlers. Kolkata lost only three wickets, all of which were run-outs. The previous occasion was in a domestic match in Zimbabwe.
2 – Andre Russell’s bowling figures of 4-0-20-4 is the second best this season after Amit Mishra’s 4/11 which also came against Kings XI.
4 – Runs conceded by Russell in his first sixteen balls. He had given away only three singles and a wide while picking up three wickets.
12 – However, he was brought back to earth by Axar Patel who dispatched the last two balls of his third over for sixes.
5 – Fifty-plus partnerships between Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa in this IPL. The duo are the only batsmen to achieve this feat in two editions of the tournament.
6 – Victories for the Knightriders in this IPL. They are now at the top of the league table ahead of Gujarat Lions on the basis of net run-rate.
7 – Instances when teams opted not to use the full quota of four overseas players in an IPL match. Kings XI went in with only Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell and David Miller.
13 – Most run-outs for a batsman in the IPL. Gambhir went past his rival captain Murali Vijay who has been run-out 12 times across all seasons of the league.
13 – Wickets taken by Russell in this IPL. With his four-wicket haul, the all-rounder overtook Mumbai’s Mitchell McClenaghan to go on top of the list.
19 – Number of times that Gambhir has been run-out in T20s which is joint second with Azhar Mahmood. Sri Lankan great Mahela Jayawardene leads the list with 20 such dismissals.
393 – Runs scored by Gambhir in this IPL. The left-hander overtook Hyderabad’s David Warner to leapfrog into the second place behind Virat Kohli.
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