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: Sunil Narine wipes off Tim Seifert’s tears as he gets emotional
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 initially. KL Rahul, on the other end, started cutting loose. He notched up yet another fifty and overtook Shikhar Dhawan to be the orange cap holder for the time being.
Sunil Narine came to bowl the 16th over and Markram decided it was about time to go big. He smashed a huge six on the second ball of the over. He slogged the ball for 95 meters. However, Narine had the last laugh as he dismissed him on the next ball. Markram tried to go over the cover region where Shubhman Gill was stationed and took a simple catch. He scored 18 runs in 16 balls.
Watch the video here;
M45: KKR vs PBKS – Aiden Markram Six https://t.co/Lwhstl7hU1
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M45: KKR vs PBKS – Aiden Markram Wicket https://t.co/saSL1ofP3J
— Cricket Videos (@CricketVideos15) October 1, 2021
Riding on Venkatesh’s fifty and Rahul Tripathi’s 34 runs, KKR posted 165/7 in 20 overs. Both set batsmen got out in a short span of time and KKR lost the plot from thereon. They managed only 50 runs in the last six overs. Nitish Rana played a handy knock of 31 runs in 18 balls where he hit two fours and as many sixes.
Also Read: Aiden Markram replaces Dawid Malan for Punjab Kings
Arshdeep Singh bagged three wickets while Bishnoi managed to dismiss both set batsmen of KKR. Shami took one wicket in his spell of four overs while conceding 23 runs.
