Match Review-Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Kings XI Punjab- No.24-Dream 11 IPL 2020

 Welcome to another match review and today we are reviewing the first match of the double header yesterday and the stage was set for Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab.  Rahul had to win this game to get a kick start in this season and Dinesh Karthik and his side were inconsistent.  They were back from a victory that they picked up against Dhoni's men.  So now let us get to the toss.  

1.  The Toss:

           The toss was won by KKR and Dinesh Karthik did the right thing by choosing to bat first on Abu Dhabi, which really looks like the only way to win at Abu Dhabi.

  Shivam Mavi was left out and Prasidh Krishna was roped in.  KXIP though really lost all their confidence and kept on making changes after changes.  And once again they made a change by getting Cottrell out and they got in Chris Jordan.  So let us get to the first innings.

2.  First Innings:

           KKR started very badly as they lost both Tripathi and Rana at the space of 14 runs.  And they also struggled through a7ll the 6 overs.  But Gill was building up his innings at a steady pace.  Then, Eoin Morgan joined Tripathi and they steadily took the score up but another break happened and it was the young warrior Ravi Bishnoi.  He took Morgan's wicket and broke the small partnership that was building by that time.  Gill was set and he then started to make runs and gave Dinesh Karthik the time he needed to settle down and then Dinesh Karthik turned down the years and got the power of 2018 back.

  Dinesh Karthik scored at a rate of 200.  Gill stuttered and stuttered and finally got out for 57.  The score was 145 at the end of 18 overs.  Then, in the last two overs, Karthik got them to a score over 160 and finally got them to 164/4.  It was a typical type of a first innings at Abu Dhabi and no team had chased over 162 at Abu Dhabi in this season.  

3.  Second Innings:

             The Second innings got under way and as usual Rahul and Mayank gave them a fitting start once again.  They were inevitable.  Neither Pat Cummins nor Narine could get them out.  Both Mayank and Rahul went at very good pace as both of them were adding runs casually.  The Strike Rotation was good, they were getting that odd boundary at times and were not having any problems what so ever.  Then, finally Prasidh Krishna turned out to be the game changer of the match as he dismissed Mayank Agarwal when, everyone thought KXIP were cruising on.  After Mayank's dismissal, the chase never looked like before.  Pooran got out quickly and simran singh was also out and what a penultimate over.  Prasidh Krishna, came in to bowl when the score was 144/2.  KXIP required 20 off the last 12 balls and there was a Rahul who was set in the crease.  Krishna got both simran singh and Rahul out in the same over.

  And Rahul was cleaned up in the over and KXIP still had hopes with Maxwell and Mandeep singh facing Narine in the last over.  Narine had to defend a very low total in the last over.  Narine had to defend 11 in the last over, and everyone were questioning his abilities.  Everyone though that his legacy is over, he is past his prime, blah, blah, blah.  But Narine showed everyone who is the boss.  He kept Maxwell quiet and got Mandeep out.  7 was needed off the last ball and Maxwell only could hit a boundary.  KXIP came too close but could not win it, and I personally don't think that KXIP would go any far in the tournament. 

Final Summary:

        KKR: 164/4 20 overs

        D.Karthik: 58(29); S.Gill: 57(47)

        R.Bishnoi: 1/25 (4)

        KXIP: 162/5 20 overs

        K.L Rahul: 74(58); M.Agarwal: 56(39)

        P.Krishna: 3/29 (4)

Man Of The Match: Dinesh Karthik