Sharjah: The half-centuries form Chris Gayle and Mandeep Singh helped Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by eight wickets in the 46th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 at the Sharjah International Cricket Stadium on Monday.
KXIP skipper KL Rahul won the toss and elected to field first. His decision to field first proved correct as KKR lost their top order — Nitish Rana (0), Rahul Tripathi (7) and Dinesh Karthik (0) — inside the powerplay. Later, skipper Eoin Morgan (40 off 25 balls) and opener Shubhman Gill (57 off 45 balls) counter-attacked and at one point it looked that KKR will put up a huge total on the board. However, the two were dismissed quickly by KXIP bowlers and the lower order — Sunil Narine (6), Kamlesh Nagarkoti (6) and Pat Cummins (1) — failed to consolidate. In the end, KKR managed to score just 149 runs for the loss of nine wickets in their 20 overs. For Kings XI Punjab, Mohammed Shami picked up three important wickets for 35 runs in his four overs. Chris Jordan and Ravi Bishnoi have taken two wickets each.
Kings XI Punjab, meanwhile, got a perfect start as their openers — KL Rahul (28 off 25 balls) and Mandeep Singh (66 off 56 balls) — put on 36 runs inside the first six overs. However, KKR came back strongly in the eighth over as Varun Chakravarthy dismissed KL Rahul, reducing KXIP to 47/1. After Rahul’s departure, Chris Gayle (51 off 29 balls) joined Mandeep Singh in the middle and the duo did not let the momentum slip for KXIP. Both batsmen put together a partnership of 100 runs, taking KXIP closer to victory. Gayle was finally dismissed by Lockie Ferguson but it was then too late for KKR. Despite losing Gayle, KXIP won the match by 8 wickets to acquire the fourth spot with five conjugative wins in the tournament.
With this win, Kings XI Punjab have moved to the fourth position at the points table and strengthened their chances to qualify for the playoffs of the tournament. This was also the fifth consecutive win for KL Rahul’s side. Meanwhile, KKR are now out of the top four and will have to play really well, and also depend on net run-rate, to progress ahead in the ongoing competition.