IPL Match 21 - Morgan leads KKR to a clinical 5 wicket win over PBKS

IPL Match 21 – Morgan leads KKR to a clinical 5 wicket win over PBKS

Kolkata Knight Riders returned to winning ways after suffering four consecutive defeats as they triumphed the Punjab Kings by five-wickets at Narendra Modi Stadium on Monday.

Chasing a below par target of 124, KKR were off to a poor start as they lost both their openers Shubman Gill (9) and Nitish Rana (0) cheaply inside the first two overs. Sunil Narine who walked in at No.3 also fell shortly after without opening his account as the Knights languished at 17/3.

Captain Eoin Morgan along with Rahul Tripathi then took charge of steadying the innings for KKR as the duo shared a 66 run partnership for the fourth wicket. However, Deepak Hooda ended Tripathi's innings on 41.

Morgan played a captain's knock hitting 47 off 40 balls and stayed until the end to ensure 2 crucial points for his side. The Knights achieved the target in the 17th over with 5 wickets in hand to register their second win of the season.

Earlier, the KKR spin tank of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy along with fast bowler Prasidh Krishna put up an impressive show with the ball to keep Punjab's scoring rate under check and restrict them to a modest total of 123/9.

PBKS were off to a decent start steadily building their innings. However, Pat Cummins dismissed Rahul in the final over of the Power Play as the PBKS captain walked back to the pavilion for 19. Chris Gayle perished on a duck shortly followed by the dismissal of Deepak Hooda on 1, leaving the Kings struggling at 42/3.

Mayank Agarwal however, tried to take charge of the proceedings and contributed with his valuable 31 off 34 balls. Agarwal fell prey to Narine while attempting a pull at the deep mid-wicket.

Moises Henriques (2) and Shahrukh Khan (13) also put up poor shows. Nicholas Pooran then stayed in the middle for some time hitting 19 off 19 balls. Chris Jordan surged at the end to add a crucial 30 off 18 balls to help the Kings breach the 100-run mark. Jordan slammed three sixes to guide his side to a fighting total on the board.

For KKR, Narine claimed two wickets conceding 22 runs and Chakravarthy took 1/24. Prasidh Krishna had a great outing with the figures of 3/30 as he dismissed Hooda, Shahrukh and Jordan. Pat Cummins (2/31) and Shivam Mavi (1/13) also put up impressive shows.