Mohali boy sinks Punjab

Mohali

Thanks to Shubman Gill’s unbeatan 65, Kolkata Knight Riders kept their hopes of making it to the playoffs as they registered an emphatic 7-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab in their IPL match. The Punjab side are virtually out of the playoffs race, their only chance being rain playing spoilsport in the upcoming matches.

Chasing a total of 183/6, Gill and Dinesh Karthik (21) accomplished the job (185/3) in 18 overs. While Karthik showed his belligerent side, the 19-year-old Gill played a calculated innings to further boost his growing reputation as a T20 player who scores briskly by playing great cricketing shots. His unbeaten knock had five boundaries and two sixes. The Punjab-born opener was at his best in the 13th over when he hit R Ashwin for two sixes, took a single, and then hit a boundary on the fifth ball to complete his half-century. A single on the last ball helped him get 18 runs off the over.

Chris Lynn (48) and Andre Russell (24) supported Gill early on to ease the pressure of the run chase. Interestingly, KKR skipper Karthik looked in an agitated state of mind during the Kings XI Punjab’s innings. A couple of expensive overs, a dropped catch and the heat of making it to the playoffs apparently got to Karthik as he gestured frantically at the fielders. His frequent inputs to the bowlers, almost after every ball, were hard to miss on the field. During the break, he animatedly passed on the instructions to his teammates in the huddle with Andre Russell at the back looking a bit disinterested.

Earlier, Sam Curran (55*) and Nicholas Pooran (48) helped Kings XI Punjab post an above-par total in a crunch game. Kolkata almost did a harakiri when Rinku Singh dropped Curran, then on 17, off Sunil Narine in the 17th over at long-on. Curran hit Gurney for 22 runs with two doubles, three fours, and one six, in the last over to help Kings put up a fighting total. Sandeep Warrier (2/31) scalped Chris Gayle and KL Rahul to restrict the home team for 41/2 in the first six overs of powerplay. KKR’s strategy of relying on slower balls gave mixed results as they bagged crucial wickets but conceded runs when the execution was shoddy.

Scoreboard

Kings XI Punjab

RunsBalls46

C Gayle c Gill b Warrier 14 14 2 0

KL Rahul c Lynn b Warrier 2 7 0 0

M Agarwal run out (Narine) 36 26 2 1

N Pooran c Warrier b Rana 48 27 3 4

M Singh c Uthappa b Gurney 25 17 1 1

S Curran not out 55 24 7 2

R Ashwin b Russell 0 3 0 0

A Tye not out 0 2 0 0

Extras: (lb 2, w 1) 3