KINGS SUBDEWED
Punjab bowlers struggle to come to terms with dew in five-wicket defeat to Kolkata
AHMEDABAD: After having lost four matches in a row, Kolkata Knight Riders bounced back strongly with a five-wicket win over Punjab Kings in the IPL here on Monday.
In a low-scoring contest, a superlative bowling effort by Kolkata found Punjab gasping for breath as it managed a paltry 123 for nine. Overcoming a few hiccups, Kolkata reached the target with 20 balls to spare.
In reply, Kolkata lost three early wickets in the first three overs before Rahul Tripathi and skipper Eoin Morgan steadied the ship with a crucial 66-run association for the fourth wicket. On the back of this much-needed win, two-time champion Kolkata has moved up to fifth on the table, while Punjab has slid to its fourth loss in six matches and occupies the sixth spot on the standings.
Kolkata’s chase got off to a nightmarish start as Punjab medium-pacer Moises Henriques removed the out-of-sorts Nitish Rana for zero off an innocuous delivery. In the second over, Kolkata lost its other opener, Shubman Gill, for 9 (8b, 2x4), trapped in front by Mohammed Shami.
Things got even worse in the third over bowled by Arshdeep Singh who got rid of Sunil Narine, done in by a brilliant piece of fielding from Ravi Bishnoi at deep midwicket to pouch arguably the catch of the tournament so far.
At 17 for three, things were looking precarious for Kolkata and the situation demanded that Morgan rein in his natural instincts and play the waiting game. He was ably supported by Tripathi 41 (32b, 7x4), who donned the aggressor role, slamming two fours off Arshdeep. Morgan was not to be left behind as he opened his account with a six and a four off Shami in the fourth over.
At the completion of powerplay, Kolkata reached 42 for three. Punjab captain KL Rahul missed an easy stumping of Tripathi off Bishnoi in the ninth over. At the halfway mark, Kolkata was sitting pretty at 76 for three.
Although Kolkata lost two more wickets in quick succession, Morgan remained unbeaten on 47 (40b, 4x4, 2x6) to steer his team to safety. Towards the end, Dinesh Karthik struck two boundaries off Arshdeep to finish the game on a high. Earlier, KKR’s campaign got some boost as the bowling unit led by Pat Cummins fired in unison.
Youngster Shivam Mavi (1/13) started it all, tying things down with the new ball, bowling 15 dot balls in his four overs on the trot, before Cummins (2/31) and Prasidh Krishna (3/30) tightened the noose sharing five wickets between them at the death.