In the 44th match of IPL 2018, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) claimed a superb 31-run victory against the hosts Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at Holkar Cricket Stadium (Indore) on Saturday evening. While KKR put a mammoth total of 245/6 in 20 overs, KXIP managed to score 214/8 at the end of 20 overs.
KXIP captain Ravichandran Ashwin decided to field first after winning the toss. KKR batsmen totally dominated over the KXIP bowlers as they were able to put a mammoth total on the board of 245/6 in 20 overs.
Opener Sunil Narine started the innings with the familiar attacking batting as he completed his half-century in just 26 balls. While another opener Chris Lynn and no.3 batsman Robin Uthappa scored 27 and 24 runs respectively, Narine was dismissed after scoring 75 runs off 36 balls with 9 fours and 4 sixes. Narine’s knock set the stage for KKR to put a big total on the board which next batsmen utilised brilliantly.
Skipper Dinesh Karthik (50 runs off 23 balls) completed his half-century in just 22 balls while Andre Russell (31 runs off 14 balls), Nitish Rana (11 runs off 4 balls), Shubman Gill (16* runs off 8 balls) and Javon Searles (6* runs off 1 ball) all thrashed the KXIP bowlers in their short innings.
Among the KXIP bowlers, Andrew Tye (4/41) picked up 4 wickets while Mohit Sharma (1/40) and Barinder Sran (1/48) got one wicket each.
In reply, KXIP openers KL Rahul and Chris Gayle began the innings superbly as they put a brilliant 57-run partnership for the opening wicket. While Gayle was dismissed on 21 runs, Mayank Agarwal (0 runs) and Karun Nair (3 runs) were dismissed cheaply. Rahul fought hard and completed his half-century in just 22 balls. He was dismissed after scoring 66 runs off 29 balls.
In the late, Aaron Finch (34 runs off 20 balls) and the skipper Ravichandran Ashwin (45 runs off 22 balls) tried hard, but the team was well short of the target. KXIP finished their innings on 214/8 at the end of 20 overs.
Among the KKR bowlers, Andre Russell picked three wickets and Prasidh Krishna claimed two wickets. Also, Sunil Narine, Javon Searles and Kuldeep Yadav got one wicket each.
Here are some Twitter reactions:
KKR get their highest total.
Previous highest was 222 in the first ever IPL match against RCB in 2008. #KXIPvKKR
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) May 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/Dream11_ALT/status/995278039758983171
https://twitter.com/YashR06/status/995276919032643588
Kolkata Knight Riders' 245/6 today is……
Highest IPL total at Indore
Highest IPL total for KKR
Highest IPL total vs KXIP
Highest total in IPL2018
4th highest total in all IPL matches#KXIPvKKR #KKRvKXIP #IPL2018 #IPL— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) May 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/Freaky_Krati/status/995287220247412737
What insane hitting Indore is witnessing today….Pitch is good but not as flat as the #KKR batsmen have made it look. Highest IPL 2018 score on the cards. #KXIPvKKR #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 12, 2018
Javon Searless hits his first ball in IPL for a 6. What a debut with the bat #KXIPvKKR
— Abhishek ✨ (@ImAbhishek7_) May 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/SRKsWarrior1__/status/995269542468186112
Very peculiar game. #KingsXI are scoring at well over 10/over and yet it has rarely, if ever, been a contest!!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/asishkumar208/status/995274823445041154
29 sixes and only 27 fours thus far…#KKR ahead in this six-hitting fest. #KXIP doing its best to ensure that NRR doesn’t take a serious beating. Need to get to 225 to avoid going negative. #KXIPvKKR #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 12, 2018
Already, will need something special from #KingsXIPunjab to come back into this game. Have to keep #KKR under 210 to hope to chase it down
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/rameshsrivats/status/995263630408007681
