The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) registered their second consecutive win and have managed to keep their hopes alive in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season. It was a dominating performance from the visitors against the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). Though at the halfway stage, it felt as if Sam Curran had pulled the things off for the hosts, Shubman Gill and other KKR batsmen made light work of the steep chase in the end.
Rahul got out in the 3rd over of Sandeep Warrier owing to a brilliant running catch by Chris Lynn and in the next over of the same bowler, Gayle also lost his wicket and Punjab was struggling at 28/2 after 5 over. However, something interesting took place in the final over of the powerplay. When Karthik was seen losing his cool on Andre Russell after the all-rounder got smashed for a six by Nicholas Pooran.
WATCH – Sam Curran Becomes Too Hot To Handle For KKR
After the dismissal of both the openers, KXIP was looking in deep trouble but Mayank Agarwal and Pooran then added 69 runs for the third wicket before the latter getting out in the 11th over of Nitish Rana. From 92/43 in 11 overs, Punjab again came down to 151/6 in almost 18 overs. However, Agarwal got out owing to the run-out affected by Sunil Narine in the 14th over.
KXIP was at 161/6 in 19 overs with Curran and Tye at the crease. In the final over of Harry Gurney, Curran smashed as many as 22 runs with the help of three fours and six. He helped Punjab to reach a decent total of 183/6 in their quota of 20 overs he completed his maiden IPL fifty as well.
WATCH – Shubman Gill Takes Apart R Ashwin
During the chase, both the KKR openers, Shubman Gill and Chris Lynn came out all guns blazing as they scored as many as 62 runs for the opening wicket with the latter getting out on the final ball of the powerplay to Tye. Gill and Robin Uthappa then added 38 runs for a 2nd wicket as Ashwin dismissed Uthappa in the 11th over. However, in the very next over of the same bowler, Gill took the revenge by smashing a couple of sixes and a four in that over.
Then Russell joined Gill and they added as many as 51 runs for the third wicket as Russell was dismissed by Tye in the 15th over. However, with the help of another fifty from Gill. KKR chased down the score with 7 wickets in hands and 2 wickets to spare as Karthik and Gill scored more than 30 runs in almost 20 balls.
Brief Score:
Kolkata Knight Riders – 185/3 in 18 overs (S Gill: 65*: C Lynn: 46; R Ashwin: 1/38) defeated Kings XI Punjab – 183/6 in 20 overs (S Curran: 55*; S Warrier: 2/31, A Russell: 1/29) by 7 wickets with 12 balls to spare
Here is how Twitter reacted to the dominating win of KKR:
Big match winner what a knock @RealShubmanGill bro next superstar ⭐️😊👏👏👏👏✌️ @IPL @KKRiders @StarSportsIndia
— Rahul Sharma (@ImRahulSharma3) May 3, 2019
Like the way @RealShubmanGill Great to see u young gun 💪🏻💪🏻
— Manpreet Gony (@imMsgony) May 3, 2019
Shubman Gill….future of Indian batting is in very exciting hands. Now, take the team home….make it a habit. ☺️🤗🏏 #KXIPvKKR #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 3, 2019
@Russell12A has baawan 6’s now #52 😜 #favouritenumber #SelectDugout @StarSportsIndia
— Dean Jones AM (@ProfDeano) May 3, 2019
Liked the way @RealShubmanGill is batting with maturity! Great to see a young gun learning quickly ,great signs for Indian cricket in the coming years , I guess credit to @ipl for creating opportunities for young talent @StarSportsIndia
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) May 3, 2019
@RealShubmanGill is a special talent, today's knock is another case in point #KXIPvKKR
— Deep Dasgupta (@DeepDasgupta7) May 3, 2019
Think we will be talking about @RealShubmanGill for many many years …. Love the way he plays ….. #IPL2019
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) May 3, 2019
https://twitter.com/KP24/status/1124364418534367232
So happy that @KKRiders are allowing Shubman Gill to play his role at the top of the innings. 3 fifties in 4 innings opening the batting. Even more moving is that his mom has travelled to watch her son. She must be proud of the man he is growing into👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 to the Gill family.
— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) May 3, 2019
Emphatic, easy win for #KKR. And many positives too, none more than the composure of Shubman Gill. He is talented, true, but it is his composure that will take him far
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 3, 2019
Loved the innings from @RealShubmanGill and the most important thing apart from the elegance and maturity that he displayed was that he was there till the end, wonderful signs for future of Indian Cricket #KXIPvKKR
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 3, 2019
