Kings XI Punjab Innings - 155/9 (20 overs)
Kolkata Knight Riders Innings - 159/6 (17.5 overs)
| On behalf of Mahesh, Raju, Sriram, Bharath and my co-commentators, Ramakrishnan and Pradeep, this is Sidhant Maheshwari signing off! Take care! | |
| So, that finishes double-header Saturday. Don't worry though as Super Sunday awaits you. In the first game, Rajasthan Royals will be up against Chennai Super Kings. In the second game, Mumbai Indians will face Royal Challengers Bangalore. Don't forget to join us then. | |
| Let's take a look at some of the best tweets from this game: | |
| @fwildecricket: #KXIP were basically entirely reliant on George Bailey and Sandeep Sharma today. They arent the same team. #IPL #KXIPvKKR #KKR | |
@cricketaakash: Did anyone spot Johnson's bouncers in this innings? Somehow I missed them. #KXIP's bowling frailties exposed courtesy par scores. | |
@iainobrien: Mitchell Johnson seems to just be dishing them up in his last couple of games...Struggling with something. | |
@bhogleharsha: Little doubt that Suryakumar Yadav is an exceptional striker. But his challenge will lie in facing 40-50 balls. Will be a star if he does | |
@rgcricket: Sandeep Sharma has now dismissed a batsman on duck seven times in IPL. Six of them have been first-ball ducks! #ipl #KXIPVsKKR | |
Russell: 'It might be a good idea (on putting a speed gun on his bat). T20 cricket is all about having fun, expressing yourself. The way the game was set up, it wasn't the best of situations but we knew that if we stayed together, we could win it. I played the role of the aggressor. I have got a few good knocks, but I will rate this one on top. I want to create my own style, everyone thinks of me as a fun guy and I want to keep that going.' | |
| Andre Russell is the Man of the Match for his 36-ball 66 | |
Gambhir: 'I think this is the new breed of cricketers we are seeing. They are fearless, we want the players to play their natural game. The credit needs to go to the entire support staff as well. We know Surya can take the game till the end, he has done brilliantly till now. We were under pressure, but we knew that if Russell and Yusuf are there till the end, we will win. He (Russell) is a great lad, he's a great guy to have in the dressing room.' | |
Bailey: 'I am fine (on his injury). Once again, we didn't do either of the three disciplines well enough to win it. We kept losing wickets and never got any partnerships as such. We were 15-20 runs short. We missed a few run-out chances as well. We are not getting our plans right. Full credit to Russell, and Yusuf (Pathan) too because of how he curbed his natural instinct and held one end. We will have a couple of tough games before we go to Mohali. Rajasthan and Chennai are on top of the pile and we need to perform well against them.' | |
Earlier in the day, George Bailey amassed a well-constructed fifty to help Punjab recover. Maxwell too played a breezy knock. However, in the end, they paid the price for losing wickets at regular intervals. The hosts have now has lost three of their four games in this year's IPL. On the other hand, Kolkata have been successful in winning two of the three matches they have played. | |
Andre Russell's pyrotechnics helped Kolkata to register a convincing win. Sandeep Sharma swung the ball both ways to snare four wickets and put Punjab in front. However, it was Russell, who changed the complexion of the game with a flurry of breathtaking shots. He took a heavy toll off Axar Patel, Thisara Perera and Mitchell Johnson's bowling. In fact, Johnson had a forgettable day as he was hit to all corners of the ground. | |
The KKR dugout is extremely delighted, they were 60/5 at one stage. But, Andre Russell took the game away from KXIP. The players walk off after shaking hands with each other. Gambhir can afford a smile now. He leads his team onto the field as they exchange handshakes with the opposition. |
