IPL 2018, KXIP vs KKR: 3 Unnoticed things from the game

The 44th match of the IPL saw Ashwin’s Punjab take on Dinesh Karthik’s Knight Riders. Both teams put up a disappointing show in their previous match and were looking forward to a win. Ashwin won the toss and chose to chase.

His decision backfired severely as Narine got off to a lightning start in the powerplay. But this time, he continued his destruction even after the powerplay as he tore apart Ashwin in a spectacular fashion. Russell chipped in with a cameo and DK continued his rich vein of form with a 22 ball fifty as KKR posted a humongous total of 246.

Chasing 246, Punjab needed a Gayle storm but he got out for another low score. But KL Rahul once again carried the whole team on his shoulder with yet another stunning display of brutal yet orthodox batting.

But it wasn’t quite enough as Punjab lost wickets at regular interval. Ashwin saved Punjab from a huge defeat with a superb cameo, but Punjab eventually lost by 31 runs. Here are 3 unnoticed things from this match.

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#1 Highest score for Narine in IPL

He started off in an unusually slow manner but then took off in his own inimitable way as he scored two consecutive boundaries off Ashwin’s first two balls. The highlight of his innings was the 11th over bowled by Sran as he destroyed him with two sixes and a boundary.Though Kolkata had a disappointing 2017 IPL, their decision to promote Narine up the order was a masterstroke. But many thought Narine won’t be as effective as an opener this season as the experts regarded him as a pinch hitter rather than a proper batsman.

But he proved everyone wrong in the first game itself as he yet again humiliated RCB with a 14-ball fifty. But he was yet to score another fifty this season until this game.

Narine’s evolution as a batsman was evident in this innings as he didn’t go after all the deliveries and instead waited for that one bad ball and deposited it into the stands.

#2 First fifty for DK in 2018 IPL

Dk is probably in the best phase of his career as evident by the way he is playing all the tough unorthodox shots with supreme confidence. Though he has played some brilliant cameos in this IPL, he was yet to score big mainly because he batted at number 6.

But this time he came in at number 5 and produced yet another innings filled with some classical strokes and trademark T20 shots such as reverse sweep and scoop.

This inning was probably his best of this IPL because of the 16th over where he took apart Punjab’s key bowler Mujeeb with some beautiful batting. In the very first ball of that over, He played a perfect slog sweep and then off the fourth delivery of that over he picked the carrom ball beautifully and deposited it over square leg.

#3 Ashwin’s highest ever IPL score

By the time Ashwin came to bat the match was already over with Punjab reeling at 119-5. His decision to promote himself to no. 4 in the previous match backfired and was widely criticized with many saying that his batting style doesn’t suit the T20 format. But he proved everyone wrong with a splendid effort.

He played a beautiful drive off the last ball of the 16th over. He scored two consecutive boundaries off Narine, the first one was delicately guided past the short third man and he absolutely muscled the next ball over Narine’s head. The next over he destroyed Russell with 2 sixes and 1 four and cruised to his career-best IPL score of 45.

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