Xtra Time Web Desk: Brilliant half centuries from Chris Gayle (51) and Mandeep Singh (66*) powered Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) to their fifth consecutive win and with it moved to fourth in the standings after a comprehensive eight-wicket victory against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday.
In the first innings, KXIP maintained perfect line and length as they restricted Kolkata Knight Riders on 149/9 in 20 overs. Shubman Gill emerged as the leading scorer for KKR with a 57-run knock. Mohammad Shami was the standout bowler for Punjab, picking three wickets in his four-over quota. During the chase, Mandeep Singh (66*) and Chris Gayle (51) stitched a 100-run second-wicket partnership which guided KXIP to 150/2 in 18.5 overs.
A visibly elated Kings XI Punjab captain KL Rahul said, “I am very happy. The whole team will be. we collectively decided to go out there and play positive cricket, and things can turn around. It is different persons putting their hand up at different times. Just happy that everything is coming together. Fingers crossed that we can win a few more games. The kind of toughness Mandeep has shown has rubbed on to other ways. Everybody is emotional. Just to put his hand up, just to be there, just to finish off the game, makes us so proud.”
KKR captain Eoin Morgan said, “Particularly here in Sharjah you have to counterattack if you lose wickets early. Disappointing our partnership couldn’t get more. When we were three down, it was about getting a partnership. We thought 185-190 would have kept us in the game, wouldn’t have been a match-winning total by any stretch. But we kept losing wickets. That’s the nature of the tournament. There aren’t many bad sides. Going into the last two, our fate is in our hands. If we win those two, we should be in a reasonably good position.”