The 49th match of the season saw Kings XI Punjab hosting Kolkata Knight Riders in Mohali. KXIP desperately needed a win to stay alive in the season whereas KKR also sought a win to strengthen their place in the top four. As it turned out, the hosts overpowered the mighty KKR and grabbed two crucial points.
Batting first after losing the toss, the KXIP batsmen got starts but none of them went on to make a big score. The captain Glenn Maxwell was the leading scorer with 44 and some support from the lower order took them to a competitive 167/6.
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KKR, in reply, once more got off to a quickfire start thanks to openers Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn. The Australian made a wonderful 84 and looked like taking his side home but some excellent death bowling from the KXIP bowlers turned the game around to hand them a 14-run win.
Here is how the players from both sides performed:
Kings XI Punjab
Martin Guptill – 4/10
The Kiwi batsman began with a boundary in the first over off Umesh Yadav but went into his shell later and struggled to strike freely. His sluggish knock was ended by Narine when he looked to sweep the bowler across the line and was struck in front. Guptill had to walk back for 12 off 16 balls in the 6th over.
Manan Vohra – 5/10
The right-hander didn’t get much of the strike in the first three overs but when he did, he hit four delightful boundaries and looked in fine touch. But while attempting a pull shot off Umesh Yadav, he gloved one to the keeper and departed for 25 off 16 balls.
Shaun Marsh – 4/10
After two quick wickets, the onus was on Marsh to rebuild the innings. He did strike two stylish boundaries but an in-dipper from Woakes beat his driving bat and cannoned into the stumps to curtail his stay to 11 off 10 balls.
Glenn Maxwell – 7/10
The skipper had huge responsibility on his shoulders after the three early wickets and he began with caution. He got going with two consecutive sixes in the 12th over and repeated the same in the 16th over. But as he went for the third six in a row off Kuldeep Yadav, he was caught on the long-off boundary and was dismissed for 44 off 25 balls.
Wriddhiman Saha – 6.5/10
The wicket-keeper batsman was off to a slow start and at one stage, found himself at 10 off 17 balls. But he soon switched gears and sent a few to the ropes. As he looked to go big in the slog overs, he was stumped by Uthappa for 38 off 33 balls off Kuldeep in the 18th over.
Axar Patel – 6.5/10
The left-armer couldn’t get going while batting at the death and managed just 8 runs off 10 balls without a single boundary. While bowling too, he couldn’t pick up any wickets and ended with figures of 28/0 in 4 overs. However, he took a spectacular catch at the deep mid-wicket boundary, running to his right and diving full length, and also inflicted the run-out of Lynn that turned the game in his side’s favour.
Rahul Tewatia – 8.5/10
Tewatia came out to bat in the penultimate over and played a useful cameo of 15 off 8 balls that included 3 fours. With the ball, he bagged the prized scalp of Gambhir and also removed Uthappa in the same over to bring his side back in the game. He finished with magnificent figures of 18/2 in 4 overs.
Matt Henry – 5.5/10
The Kiwi was taken for 11 runs in his first over by the KKR openers and conceded 12 more in his second. He was called back to bowl the 18th over where he picked up the vital wicket of Manish Pandey. Henry’s figures read 31/3 from 3 overs.
Mohit Sharma – 8.5/10
The pacer was hit for 2 fours by Narine in the first over but he made an excellent comeback and castled the batsman soon after. He came back to bowl the crucial 17th over where he went for only 7 runs and then bowled a tremendous second last over where he removed Yusuf Pathan and ended with figures of 24/2 in 3 overs.
Sandeep Sharma – 7/10
Sandeep went for 14 runs in his first over as Narine and Lynn went after him from the start. But he made a good comeback and conceded 6 runs each in his next 2 overs. He was trusted with bowling the last over with 20 runs in the bag and executed his yorkers to perfection to give away just 5 runs. Sandeep ended with figures of 31/0.
Swapnil Singh – 3.5/10
Swapnil was sent in to bat at number 7 but he scored just 2 off 2 balls. With the ball too, he didn’t contribute a lot and went for 19 runs in 2 overs as he became a victim of the onslaught from the KKR batsmen.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Sunil Narine – 7/10
Narine did well with the ball and bagged figures of 27/1 in 4 overs that included the crucial wicket of Martin Guptill. With the bat, he provided a rollicking start to KKR and scored 18 off 10 balls that consisted of 4 fours.
Chris Lynn – 9/10
The opening batsman was in sublime touch once more and went after the bowling right from the outset. He was aggressive right through his knock of 84 off 52 balls that included 8 fours and 3 sixes and kept his side in the hunt. He, unfortunately, got run out in the 18th over.
Gautam Gambhir – 3.5/10
The skipper arrived at the crease in the 4th over after the dismissal of Narine. It was a good opportunity for him to get a decent score and support Lynn at the other end. But it was one of those innings where he failed to contribute as he was dismissed for just 8 off 18 balls without scoring a single boundary.
Robin Uthappa – 2/10
Uthappa was busy behind the wickets as he took a catch and inflicted a stumping. But when it came to batting, he looked to hit the first ball he faced out of the park but only managed to hit it as far as the deep mid-wicket fielder to depart without opening his account.
Manish Pandey – 4.5/10
The right-hander found himself at the crease when his side was in a spot of bother at 79/3 after 9.5 overs. Lynn was playing superbly at the other end and Pandey played second fiddle to him. But when the required run rate crept up, he fell for 18 off 23 in the hunt for quick runs against Matt Henry in the 18th over.
Colin de Grandhomme – 4.5/10
Initially, with the ball, he conceded 37 runs in 4 overs and failed to pick up any wickets. Later, with the bat, he found himself batting down the order where he had too much to do and could just score 11 off 7.
Yusuf Pathan – 2/10
The right-hander wasn’t required to contribute with the ball but walked in to bat at a crucial stage when his side needed 36 off 16 balls. But he couldn’t finish the game for his team and scored just 2 off 3 balls, ultimately falling in the penultimate over.
Chris Woakes – 8.5/10
The Englishman had a terrific time in Mohali as he turned out to be the pick of the KKR bowlers. He first removed the dangerous looking Marsh in his second over and then came back to dismiss Swapnil Singh to end with figures of 20/2 in 4 overs.
Umesh Yadav – 5/10
The Indian pacer bowled 3 overs inside the powerplay and received a beating at the hands of Manan Vohra. But Umesh made a good comeback and removed the batsman courtesy a well-directed bouncer and finished with figures of 26/1 in 3 overs.
Kuldeep Yadav – 5.5/10
Kuldeep was introduced into the attack in the 14th over and went for 7 runs. In the next over, he was slammed for 2 back to back sixes by Maxwell but he managed to get the batsman out in the same over. In the third, Saha hit him for a six but he too was picked up by the bowler who bagged figures of 34/2 in 3 overs.
Ankit Rajpoot – 4.5/10
The pacer came in to bowl in the 13th over and was struck for 2 boundaries in the over by Maxwell and Saha and conceded 10 runs. He then bowled the final over of the innings and gave away just 7 runs to finish with 17/0 in 2 overs.
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