KXIP go atop table after openers’ blazing 116-run stand downs KKR by 9 wickets in rain-hit tie
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) registered a convincing victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by nine wickets to atop the points table at the Eden Gardens here on Saturday.
Like they have been doing through this season so far, KXIP openers Chris Gayle and KL Rahul clobbered the KKR bowlers all around the park in pursuit of the hosts’ 191/7 in a rain-interrupted IPL encounter.
While Gayle hit an unbeaten 62 off 38 balls studded with five fours and six sixes, Rahul scored 60 in 27 deliveries comprising nine fours and two sixes.
The duo took the KKR bowlers head on right from the word go of the run-chase. Dealing in sixes and fours, their 50-run partnership came up in just the fourth over of the innings.
At the 8.2-over mark when KXIP had raced to 96 and the KKR bowlers were at their wits end in trying to stop the Gayle and Rahul assault, the weather gods decided to do the job for them.
A heavy downpour stalled the match for about an hour, with the packed Eden Gardens crowd who had first braved the scorching heat hoping for play to restart as soon as possible.
Their wishes came true, and the match resumed with a revised target of 125 in 13 overs for KXIP.
The left-handed Gayle picked up from where he had left off, bringing up his 50 off just 28 balls while Rahul too brought up his half-century in 24 deliveries.
But against the run of play, Rahul succumbed to a short delivery by Sunil Narine, top-edging a pull shot to deep midwicket where Tom Curran took a diving catch.
It brought an end to an entertaining 116-run stand in 9.4 overs between the two dashing openers.
Gayle was Mayank Agarwal finished the for the visitors in the end.
Earlier, after being put in to bat, KKR lost their first wicket in the form of Narine, who was dismissed for one in just the second over by Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
But that didn’t deter Chris Lynn and Robin Uthappa from counterattacking.
The Australian anchored the innings to perfection, hitting 74 in 41 balls comprising six fours and four maximums even as Uthappa threw away another good start, being dismissed for 34 off 23 balls.
The only other batsman who made some impression was captain Dinesh Karthik, scoring 43 off 28 deliveries.
But while KKR seemed well on course to cross the 200-run mark, the KIXP bowlers put up a disciplined performance at the death.
The last two overs of the KKR innings cost just 11 runs, with Barinder Sran giving away just six runs in the penultimate over and Australia’s Andrew Tye even fewer off a clever final over — five.
The two also removed Karthik and Tom Curran in the process, thus managing to restrict the hosts to 191/7.
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