Mohali: Kings XI Punjab inflicted a shock defeat on defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders by four runs in a thrilling Indian Premier League encounter here on Tuesday.
Chasing a decent target of 158, KKR managed 153 for nine in the end despite a 105-run second wicket partnership between Gambhir (60, 39 balls, 8×4) and Eoin Morgan (47, 38 balls, 6×4). This was after Sunil Narine took the first hat-trick of the season.
This is Kings XI’s second win from four matches while KKR’s woeful away record continued as they have now lost three games on the road.
From a comfortable 106 for two in 13 overs, KKR batsmen required only 52 off 42 balls but once the two set batsmen were out in quick succession, things changed rapidly.
Manoj Tiwary (1, 7 balls) and ‘Million Dollar’ man Yusuf Pathan (13, 16 balls) wasted 14 deliveries in between them as Manpreet Gony (1/18 in 4 overs) and Azhar Mahmood (3/21 in 4 overs) bowled brilliantly to get the home team back in the match.
Needing 11 runs off the final over, Adam Gilchrist saved what would have been 5 wides of the first delivery from Praveen Kumar. Praveen (2/26) kept his cool as he first removed Yusuf out of the equation and gave away only six runs to bring cheer for the home team.
Only KKR players could blame themselves for this shock defeat as they committed harakiri towards the end.
Rajat Bhatia (16) tried his best with a couple of sixes but that certainly wasn’t enough in the end.
Gony, playing his first game of the cash-rich league certainly made a big impact in the final outcome of the encounter.
First his long-handle came to good effect as his 42 off 18 balls took Kings XI past 150-run mark which had looked improbable when they were tottering at 99 for six. Later, he removed a set Gambhir to bring KKR back in the match and also bowled consistently during his four-over spell.
“Me and Morgan should have finished the game. It’s a great leveller. We need to think, whoever is there needs to finish the game. The two world-class spinners have a lot of tricks up their sleeve,” Gambhir said after the match.
“Morgan has been hitting the ball the best. Hopefully, he’ll finish more games for us,” he added.
Meanwhile, Kings XI captain Adam Gilchrist appeared to be worried with his batting woes.
“I needed to do something after my batting effort,” he said.
Lauding Gony for his heroic efforts in the match, Gilchrist joked, “Manpreet maybe needs to bat at the top of the order after that. He has been terrific.”
“It was a big game, we haven’t had the best record here of late,” a delighted Gilchrist said.
Gony, who won the Man-of-the-Match award for his all-round performance, said, “The wicket was to my liking, I was enjoying my batting, I was looking to hit straight.
“I want to perform in every game. Stretch the boundaries however much you like, I’ll still keep hitting sixes.” (PTI)