Kolkata Knight Riders finally put a stop to their losing spree.
In a match that could be termed as an upset, they achieved a five-wicket victory against Punjab Kings after losing four games in a row in the IPL 2021.
KKR captain Eoin Morgan returned to form with a vital 47 that helped Kolkata reach the 124-run target with 20 balls left.
It was not smooth sailing though.
KKR had their customary bad start after losing Nitish Rana in the first over when the score was just 5.
Shubman Gill continued his poor run with the bat, falling next with the score at 9.
Gill looks short of fluency and confidence and unless he regains his mojo quickly, KKR will continue to struggle.
Coming at No. 3, Sunil Narine was brilliantly caught by Ravi Bishnoi off Arshdeep Singh and KKR was in dire straits at 17 for 3.
All 3 Punjab bowlers – Moises Henriques, Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh bowled brilliantly in the power play to put their team in a strong position in the power play.
However, skipper Eoin Morgan and Rahul Tripathi (41 runs off 32 balls) put on a 66-run partnership and steadied the team’s ship for KKR.
Tripathi needlessly threw away his wicket to Deepak Hooda when the score was 83.
Earlier, Prasidh Krishna grabbed three wickets while Pat Cummins and Sunil Narine scalped two wickets each as KKR restricted Punjab to 123 for 9 after choosing to bowl.
A big area of concern for Punjab is that their West Indian pair of Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran aren’t performing.
Gayle and Pooran are the two of the cleanest hitters of the cricket ball and it’s hard to fathom their sudden dip in form.
If this continues, it might be a good idea to try out Dawid Malan in a couple of matches.
With this win, KKR move to fifth in the IPL table.
Kolkata Knight Riders 126 for 5 (Morgan 47*, Tripathi 41, Henriques 1-5) beat Punjab Kings 123 for 9 (Agarwal 31, Jordan 30, Krishna 3-30, Narine 2-22) by five wickets.
