Captain Dinesh Karthik was finally among the runs, and with opener Shubman Gill, helped Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) post 164/6 against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Abu Dhabi on Saturday, 10 September.
Choosing to bat first, the two-time champions started off slow but half-centuries by Karthik and Gill helped accelerate the innings and put KKR on course for a competitive total.
Skipper Karthik scored a 29-ball 58 at a strike rate of 200, and hit eight boundaries and two sixes.
KXIP are still missing the services of Chris Gayle but replaced Sheldon Cottrell with Chris Jordan. KKR brought in Prasidh Krishna for Shivam Mavi and after choosing to bat, were reduced to 14/2 in the first 21 balls of their innings.
Opener Rahul Tripathi, who scored an 81 in their previous game, was castled by Mohammed Shami for 4 in the third over. New batsman in Nitish Rana followed him back to the hut after getting run out due to a mix up with opener Shubman Gill in the next over.
Englishman Eoin Morgan then came in to bat at No.4 for the first time this season, but could not pick up the pace of the innings with Gill. The duo took KKR to 60/2 in overs, and stitched a 49-run stand before Morgan was caught out for a 23-ball 24.
Captain Dinesh Karthik joined Gill at the crease, and went on to notch his highest score this season so far. The two stitched a crucial 82-run stand to steady KKR’s innings before Gill was run out for 57 (off 47 balls).
Karthik was also run out on the final ball of the innings.
KXIP youngster Arshdeep Singh was brilliant on the day, giving away just 2 runs in the two powerplay overs he bowled. The left-arm seamer picked up the wicket of Andre Russell (5) and finished with figures of 1/25. Mohammed Shami (1/30) and Ravi Bishnoi (1/25) also picked up a wicket each while Mujeeb Ur Rahman leaked 44 runs in his four overs.
Fourth-placed KKR have won three out of the five games they have played so far. On the other hand, Kings XI have been able to register just one win in their previous six games and are currently at the bottom of the points table.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)