Half-centuries from Chris Gayle and Lokesh Rahul helped the Kings XI Punjab seal a nine-wicket DLS win against the Kolkata Knight Riders in a rain-stricken match at Eden Gardens.
The home side lost the toss and was put in to bat. The Kolkata Knight Riders’ innings was held together by two key partnerships headed by Chris Lynn, as KKR posted 191-7 in 20 overs.
After losing their star man Sunil Narine mid-way through the second over, the Australian big-hitter scored 74 off 41 balls (six fours and four sixes).
He shared a 72-run partnership with Robin Uthappa (34 off 23 balls) and 62 with Dinesh Karthik (43 off 28 balls) before he lost his scalp in the 16th over.
Following the loss of Lynn, reduced to 147-4.
KKR looked on course to reach 200-run mark but Karthik’s scalp throttled the hosts at 185-6 by the end of the 19th over.
Andrew Tye prevented the hosts from crossing the 200-run mark, removing Tom Curran and conceding five in his final over, to finish with figures of 2-30.
The Kings XI Punjab were solid in their chase.
They scored 69 off the power play, Gayle contributed 35 off 22 balls and Rahul 37 off 15 balls.
Rain ended play two balls into the eighth over. With the DLS par score at 65, KXIP were way ahead at 96-0, Rahul with a 23-ball 46 and Chris Gayle on 49 off 27 balls.
The clash was reduced to a 13-over game with an adjusted target of 125 runs.
Rahul was the only wicket to fall after a 27-ball 60 (nine fours and two sixes). Gayle finished off the game with a maximum to end on 62 off 38 balls (five fours and six sixes).
Photo: Ron Gaunt/IPL/Sportzpics
