KL Rahul and Chris Gayle’s ferocious knocks overshadowed Chris Lynn’s return to form as the Kings XI Punjab flayed Kolkata Knight Riders’ lackadaisical bowling attack en route to a comprehensive nine-wicket victory via the DLS method at the Eden Gardens on Saturday (April 21).
Asked to bat, Kolkata rode on Lynn’s blistering 41-ball 74, decorated with six fours and four maximums, followed by handy cameos from Robin Uthappa and Dinesh Karthik to post 191 for 7 in 20 overs. In reply, Rahul and Gayle helped Punjab dash to 96 for no loss in 8.2 overs before rain stopped play for more than an hour. Chasing a revised target of 125 in 13 overs, Punjab finished on 126 for 1 in 11.1 overs.
Eventually, Rahul finished on 60 from 27 balls with nine fours and two sixes while Gayle, who scored a century in the previous match, smacked 62 not out from 38 balls with six hits over the fence and five boundaries.
The chase was never going to be an easy one but with Gayle and Rahul in the mix, it was tough to rule Punjab out of the contest. The duo came out all guns blazing and smashed eight fours and three sixes in the first four overs. While Gayle was all about muscle, Rahul put together a string of classical shots to take Shivam Mavi and Andre Russell to the cleaners.
Both the pacers struggled to get their lines right and made a life bit more easy for the Punjab openers. Things went from bad to worse for the home side in the fourth over as Russell pulled a hamstring, and had to walk back to the hut.
Having raced to 73 for no loss in six overs, Rahul and Gayle played with a steady game plan against Narine, and rather went after Piyush Chawla and Kuldeep Yadav. Gayle, who’s back to doing what he does best, didn’t allow both the wrist spinners to settle in and blasted them for a six each before the rain arrived to shorten the match.
With 29 runs needed from 28 balls after the break, Gayle completed his hat-trick of fifties with a six down the ground. Likewise his partner, Rahul too got to his half-century with a maximum over deep mid-wicket. However, he mistimed one to the same region where Tom Curran claimed a good catch. Mayank Agarwal (2*) then joined hands with Gayle to complete the formalities with 11 balls to spare.
Earlier, Mujeeb Zadran (1 for 32), the young spinner from Afghanistan, outfoxed Sunil Narine (1) with a googly in the second over. The West Indian showed no patience and ended up whacking it straight to Karun Nair at the deep mid-wicket where the Karnataka batsman pouched a brilliant catch after misjudging it initially.
However, coming in at No.3, Robin Uthappa joined hands with Lynn, and straightaway took the attack to the bowlers. It all started with Lynn smacking Zadran through covers before thumping Ankit Rajpoot, who was playing his first game of the season, over fine leg fence. In the process, Lynn also crossed the 3000-run mark in Twenty20s.
Uthappa then crafted Zadran for three consecutive boundaries behind the wickets to keep the momentum going from both ends. Despite losing Narine early, Kolkata still managed to score 50 runs in the Power Play.
Meanwhile, Lynn, who has been kept quiet this season, looked at his very best in the eighth over when he blasted Barinder Sran (2 for 50) for 23 runs, including three sixes. With Lynn smoking everyone around the park, it became difficult for Uthappa to stand toe-to-toe with his partner. The 72-run stand was finally broken in the first delivery of the ninth over when Uthappa hammered one straight to Nair at deep mid-wicket. The 32-year-old finished on 23-ball 34, studded with five fours and a six. Before the dust settled, the in-form Nitish Rana (3) was run out and left Kolkata in a spot of bother.
Dinesh Karthik (28-ball 43), the skipper, commenced his innings with two glorious shots down the leg side. Despite tiring up, Lynn clattered Andrew Tye (2 for 30) for a couple of boundaries but eventually fell to his fellow countryman. The stage was set for Andre Russell, but the Jamaican was undone by Sran for just 10.
After Rajpoot was belted for 17 runs – by Karthik and Shubman Gill (14*) – in the 18th over, Sran and Tye hit the bullseye in the final two overs by giving away only 11 runs – that swung the momentum in Punjab’s favour.