Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings are up against each other in the 45th match of the Indian Premier League 2021 at Dubai International Stadium. Both teams have a chance to qualify for the playoffs, KKR in particular have a better shot to make it to the last four.
KL Rahul won the toss and opted to bowl first. Chris Gayle has left the IPL 2021 and he is replaced by Fabian Allen in the squad while Mandeep Singh and Harpreet Brar have made way for Mayank Agarwal and Shahrukh Khan. KKR left Lockie Ferguson and Sandeep Warrier and brought in Tim Seifert and Shivam Mavi.
Also Read: Eoin Morgan redeems himself grabbing a fine catch of Mayank Agarwal, watch
Shubhman Gill got out cheaply but Venkatesh Iyer was looking in good touch. He found a good ally in Rahul Tripathi as the pair added 72 runs for the second wicket. Venkatesh notched up his second fifty in the second leg of the IPL 2021. Tripathi and Venkatesh got out in quick succession.
Nitish Rana, then, played a handy cameo of 32 runs in 18 balls where he hit two fours and as many sixes. Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Shami bowled beautifully at the death overs and restricted KKR to 165/7 in 20 overs.
PKBS’s hunt of 166 got off to a flying start thanks to Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul. Both openers added 70 runs for the first wicket before Agarwal got out after scoring 40 runs. Nicholas Pooran came, smashed a six and got out in no time.
Aiden Markram walked out to bat at number four. He was struggling to middle the ball and got out after scoring just 18 runs. Meanwhile, KL had notched up yet another fifty in the IPL 2021 and regained the orange cap.
Also Read: Aiden Markram goes six and out, Sunil Narine takes perfect revenge, watch
A flurry of wickets towards the end brought the nightmares of previously failed run-chases of PKBS. Shahrukh Khan played a handy cameo of 22 runs in 9 balls where he hit one four and two sixes as PKBS won the game by five wickets with three balls to spare.
See how Twitter reacted to this game;
I hope the #PBKS think tank has learnt its lesson now. When you have players like Shahrukh Khan and Ravi Bishnoi, you shouldn't even think of benching them 🙂#PBKSvKKR | #IPL2021
— Prasenjit Dey (@CricPrasen) October 1, 2021
Still alive #PunjabKings
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 1, 2021
With the team they picked, #KKR needed to bat the opposition out of the game. 165, from that point of view, with a bowler short, was under par..
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 1, 2021
Surely not… #KKRvPBKS
— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) October 1, 2021
Decent score by #Kkr but they are one bowler short.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 1, 2021
What a great news it will be for India if @klrahul11 goes to World Cup with the Orange cap. Well done captain for leading from the front. #KKRvPBKS
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) October 1, 2021
Shah Rukh Khan, Rahul , and a win for Priety Zinta's team. Goodenough for Punjab #PBKS #IPL2021 #CricketTwitter
— Kallol Sarkar (@kallol_ss) October 1, 2021
#KKR would have been more confident with 12-15 runs more. #PBKS have a chance — if they get a good start and the team, notorious for losing from winning positions, holds its nerve
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) October 1, 2021
