Kings XI Punjab bagged a nine-wicket victory by the DLS method against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on Saturday (April 21) night. KKR posted 191 for 7, and KXIP sealed victory in the rain-affected encounter by chasing down their revised target of 125 in just 11.1 overs.
Sent in to bat first, KKR started off very well, despite losing Narine for 1 in the second over. Chris Lynn and Robin Uthappa attacked the opposition with some fantastic strokes to the fence, and dominated the proceedings by carrying the side's total to 78 for 1 by the ninth over.
Uthappa (34 off 23) and Nitish Rana fell in quick succession, but Dinesh Karthik and Lynn got the innings back on track with an impressive partnership in the middle.
Lynn smashed six boundaries and four sixes to finish with 74 off 41 balls, and Dinesh Karthik scored 43 off 28 balls, with six boundaries against his name.
Some disciplined bowling by KXIP at the death stopped KKR from going past the 200-run mark, but the home side still managed to rack up a big total.
In response, Chris Gayle and KL Rahul made a blistering start, taking the score to 96 without loss in 8.2 overs when the heavens opened up and the players had to be taken off the field.
Gayle was unbeaten on 49 off 27 balls and Rahul 46 off 23 balls at the break, with the scorecard reading 96 without loss in 8.2 overs. The steady drizzle changed to heavy showers, making life very hard for the groundsmen.
But thanks to a great from effort from the staff, the covers came off and play resumed at 2015 IST, and KXIP were presented with a target of 125 in 13 overs.
Piyush Chawla sent Rahul back with the batsman holing out at midwicket when play resumed, but Gayle managed to hit a six and two fours to bring down the equation.
Shivam Mavi, who bowled the 11th over, did a great job to keep Gayle quiet, but the big Jamaican ended the chase with a six off Tom Curran to seal the victory. Gayle finished unbeaten on 62 off 38 balls (4x5, 6x6).
KKR will now travel to Delhi to take on Delhi Daredevils at Feroz Shah Kotla on April 27.
