Chris Gayle diving and attempting a direct-hit to a shot from Kolkata Knight Riders batter Rahul Tripathi brought much amusement to allrounder Andre Russell who couldn’t hold on and began laughing while watching it from the dug-out.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) clashed with KKR on Monday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the first-ever Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter to be played at the venue.
Kolkata Knight Riders bagged their second match after losing four in a row, as they beat the Punjab Kings by 5 wickets. KKR’s Eoin Morgan won the toss and decided to bowl. In a brilliant display of bowling and fielding they restricted Punjab Kings to a meagre total of 123/9.
PBKS were to an slow start, as none of their openers could really stay on the filed and make an impact and only Mayank Agarwal (31) and Chris Jordan (30) were the ones to get to cross the 30-run mark. Jordan was the reason PBKS managed to put 123/9 on the board in 20 overs. He hit 3 sixes in his innings as well, as PBKS batsmen struggled against KKR bowlers.
Prasidh Krishna picked three scalps, while Sunil Narine and Pat Cummins got two wickets each. When the winning side came to bat, PBKS tried their best with some tight bowling and fielding.
Even the fellow franchise tweeted their concerns,
KKR lost openers Nitish Rana (0) and Shubman Gill (9) early with Sunil Narine (0) also failing to disturb the scoreboard. Tripathi made 41 in 32 balls with 7 fours and captain Eoin Morgan found some form and stayed unbeaten on 47 with 4 fours and 2 sixes and along with Dinesh Karthik (12*), took KKR past the finish line with 20 balls in hand and five wickets to spare.
This win helped KKR lift themselves from the bottom of the standings and up to the 5th spot.
