KKR return to winning ways with 31 runs win over KXIP

Deflated after a crushing defeat against Mumbai Indians in the previous encounter, Kolkata Knight Riders will be aiming to pick up pieces when they face Kings XI Punjab in an IPL encounter, here.

Kolkata Knight Riders produced a superlative batting performance as they comfortably beat Kings XI Punjab by 31 runs to stay in contention for a playoff berth in the Indian Premier League, here today.

On a batting belter, KKR posted a mammoth 245 for 6, their highest ever total and fourth-highest in the history of the league. Sunil Narine, who has been stunning as an opener, once again left everyone spellbound with a 36-ball-75 while skipper Dinesh Karthik played an equally significant role with his 23-ball-50.

The chase was always out of question and KL Rahul tried his bit with a 28-ball-66, which wasn't enough as KXIP could only manage 214 for 8 in 20 overs.

After losing by 102 runs against Mumbai Indians, the victory not only enabled KKR reach 12 points from as many games but also helped them improve upon their net run-rate. KXIP, on the other hand, will be worried after their back-to-back defeats in Jaipur and now in Indore.

Narine was once again their match-winner for his stellar knock and also getting the important wicket of the dangerous Rahul, who has now completed 500 runs in this IPL.

Skipper Ravichandran Ashwin's decision to bowl first on a placid track turned out t be a debatable one.

Narine and Chris Lynn (27 off 17 balls) added 53 in 5.2 overs before the Queenslander was dismissed. However, the next partnership between Narine and Robin Uthappa (24 off 17 balls) yielded 75 runs in 6.1 overs.

Narine hit nine boundaries and four sixes in his knock. He started off with a six over long-on off opposition skipper Ashwin, followed with a boundary through mid-wicket.

The next over saw Narine hit back to back boundaries off left-arm pacer Barinder Sran (1/48 in 3 overs) -- a hook and one over mid-on. Another straight six off left-arm spinner Axar Patel (0/52 in 4 overs) and a flurry of boundaries got him to his 50 off 26 balls.

Sran got a harsh treatment in the 11th over when Narine hit him for two sixes and a boundary.

The 12th over of the innings was the best one for KXIP as their best bowler Andrew Tye (2/41 in 4 overs) got rid of both Narine and Uthappa. KKR were 130 for 3 at that stage but skipper Karthik in company of Andre Russell (31 off 14 balls) took the KXIP attack to the cleaners.

Karthik hit five boundaries and three sixes while Russell had three maximums apart from a couple of fours. They added 76 runs in 5.1 overs to take the total past 200-run mark.

WATCH Russell's monstrous six here

The likes of Shubman Gill (16 off 8 balls), Nitish Rana (11 off 4 balls) then hit some lusty blows to take the team closer to the 250-run mark.

KXIP started in earnest with Rahul hitting Narine for two sixes in the very first over.

Rahul hit sixes at will -- seven of them in all but scoreboard pressure meant that wickets fell at regular intervals at the other end.

Chris Gayle (21 off 17 balls) couldn't play impactful innings being dismissed by Russell. Mayank Agarwal's technique against genuine quick bowling has always been susceptible and a short delivery from Russell (3/41 in 4 overs)

Once Rahul was bowled by Narine in a freakish manner, the match as a contest was over although Aaron Finch (34 off 20 balls), Axar Patel (19) and skipper Ashwin (45) did contribute a few runs.

Toss

Kings XI Punjab won the toss and elected to field first in a crunch tie against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Holkar stadium in Indore.

KXIP XI: C Gayle, L Rahul, K Nair, M Agarwal, A Finch, A Patel, R Ashwin, A Tye, M Sharma, M Ur Rahman, B Sran

KKR XI: C Lynn, S Narine, R Uthappa, N Rana, D Karthik, S Gill, A Russell, J Searles, P Chawla, K Yadav, P Krishna

Preview

Deflated after a crushing defeat against Mumbai Indians in the previous encounter, Kolkata Knight Riders will be aiming to pick up pieces when they face Kings XI Punjab in an IPL encounter, here.

It is not easy to recover quickly if the margin of defeat is as huge as 102 runs but KKR do not have the luxury of slipping further against a team that has one of the most formidable batting line-ups in this edition of the league.

With 10 points from 11 games, tomorrow's game is a must-win encounter for Dinesh Karthik and his men if they want to keep their play-off chances alive.

For Kings XI Punjab, the game against Rajasthan Royals turned out to be a proverbial banana peel as they lost by 15 runs chasing a modest target of 159.

The defeat led to unverified reports of rift between franchise co-owner Preity Zinta and Director of Cricket Virender Sehwag, something that the franchise denied in an official statement.

With 12 points from 10 games, KXIP are in a tricky situation. A win will take them closer to play-offs but a defeat will mean that Mumbai Indians will be breathing down their neck.

For KXIP, KL Rahul with 471 runs (from 10 games) have had a fabulous season so far while Chirs Gayle (311 from 7 games) has also been in imperious form in some of the matches. However the trouble has been lack of contribution from other batsmen in the team.

Karun Nair (243 runs in 10 games) has had a decent run so far but biggest disappointment has been Mayank Agarwal (118 runs in 9 matches). Agarwal came into the IPL after enjoying his best domestic season, having plundered runs across formats.

However it has not translated into significant contribution.

Veteran Yuvraj Singh has been benched by the team management after scoring only 64 runs in 7 games and his replacement Manoj Tiwary has not yet set the stage on fire.

KKR on the other hand has suffered due to some bizarre team selection with clear indication that the management didn't get it right while zeroing in on domestic talent.

Rinku Singh has been given four chances and the UP batsman has looked clearly out of place in the big league.

He is far from a finished product and will need time to measure up. Nitish Rana's (240 runs) form has tapered off as his poor technique against short ball has been exposed thoroughly. Among bowlers, KKR has suffered as spinners Piyush Chawla (11 wickets) and Kuldeep Yadav (8 wickets) have been very costly with economy rate close to 9 runs.

KKR will hope that both Shubman Gill and Shivam Mavi, who are important in their scheme of things get fit for tomorrow's game.

The other problem has been inconsistent form of senior players. Chris Lynn (298 from 11 games) and Robin Uthappa (273 from 11 games) have been decent but not spectacular on most days.

Sunil Narine (13 wickets and 202 runs) have been their impact player with Andre Russell (218 runs) not being even close to his best after an early game against KKR.

Squads

Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik (C), Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Mitchell Johnson, Shubman Gill, R. Vinay Kumar, Rinku Singh, Cameron Delport, Javon Searless, Apoorv Wankhade, Ishank Jaggi, Tom Curran.

Kings XI Punjab: Ravichandran Ashwin (captain), Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Barinder Sran, David Miller, Andrew Tye, Ankit Rajpoot, Axar Patel, Akshdeep Nath, Mayank Agarwal, Manoj Tiwary, Yuvraj Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Mayank Dagar.