Ahmedabad: Losing toss proved to be unfavorable for Punjab Kings this evening as openers struggled to sustain attacks by Kolkata Knight Riders' pacers who strangled the batsmen to till the core. During the crucial 21st match of the 14 edition of the Indian Premier League being played between Eoin Morgan-led Kolkata Knight Riders and KL Rahul-led Punjab Kings, the bowlers put up a fabulous show for the fans, allowing the batting Punjab team to score 123-9 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Monday, April 26.
KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal flagged off their campaign as usual for the Punjab against Kolkata. The captain initially looked in full form as he hit some amazing boundaries. Mayank too opened up with a SIX. He was rushed big time on the pull and the top edge flied straight back over the slip fielder, all the way over third man. The openers seemed to make up a good partnership but not for long as Cummins dismissed Rahul (19/20).
What was disheartening for the cric buffs was the early exit of Gayle and Hooda. Shivam Mavi removed Chris Gayle for a GOLDEN DUCK. The big blow to Punjab continued when Deepak Hooda too departed early contributing 1 off 4 deliveries.
Nicholas Pooran and Mayank Agarwal later pulled up the Punjab army contributing 31 and 19 runs respectively while Moises Henriques and Chris Jordan failed to make any impact.
Speaking of the fielding team from the first innings, a fantastic perforce by the bowlers. Prasidh Krishna and Sunil Narine got two wickets each while Shivam Mavi, Pat Cummins and Varun Chakravarthy managed to get one wicket each in their kitties.
KKR vs PBKS Playing XI:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy.
Punjab Kings: KL Rahul(w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Moises Henriques, Shahrukh Khan, Chris Jordan, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh