The 18th match of the IPL saw Kolkata Knight Riders playing hosts to Kings XI Punjab at the Eden Gardens.
Second place KKR were looking to solidify their spot at the top half of the table against the 4th placed KXIP, who were coming off a big win in the last game. Ravi Ashwin won the toss and chose to bowl first. KKR went in unchanged, while KXIP included Ankit Rajpoot, in place of Mohit Sharma.
Mujeeb gave KXIP the perfect start, getting Narine’s wicket for 1. Then Robin Uthappa (34 off 23 balls with 5 fours and 2 six) and Chris Lynn (74 from 41 balls with 6 fours and 4 sixes) added 72 runs for the second wicket. Uthappa and Rana fell in succession, as Lynn was caught behind going for a big slog.
But captain Dinesh Karthik (43 off 28 balls; 6 fours ) played a captain’s knock in the end, despite Russell getting out for just 10 runs. KKR ended up making 191/7 in the 20 overs.
Andrew Tye was the pick of KXIP bowling with 2/30 off his four overs and Ashwin picked 1/33 in his 4 overs.
BRIEF SCORES:
KKR 191/7 ( C LYNN 74; A TYE 2/30)
