IPL: Kolkata beat Punjab by 31 runs

Sports Desk: A fine batting display by Sunil Narine and skipper Dinesh Karthik helped Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) by 31 runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) clash on Saturday. Punjab could only reach 214/8 in 20 overs.

Both Narine and Karthik helped KKR post a mammoth total of 245/6 in their stipulated 20 overs. Chasing a huge total, KXIP got off to a decent start as both openers Lokesh Rahul and Chris Gayle hit boundaries at regular intervals. Gayle was dismissed in the 6th over for 21 runs.

Rahul yet again batted extremely well to bring up another half century. His innings was laced with 7 sixes and 2 fours. Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin (45) and Aaron Finch (34) tried to help their team reach the target but the total appeared to be a lot for the hosts.

Andre Russell impressed with the ball for Kolkata as he took three wickets while Prasidh Krishna also bowled well taking two wickets.

Earlier, Narine (75) and Karthik (50) produced a brilliant batting performance as Kolkata post a huge total against Kings XI Punjab.

KKR batsmen were on top of the game and after a cautious approach early on, both openers Chris Lynn (27) and Narine went ballistic with the bat scoring runs for fun.

Narine especially was stupendous with the bat as he hammered the KXIP bowlers all over the park hitting four sixes and nine fours en route his highest IPL score. Lynn was unlucky to depart as the ball hit his body and took off the bails in the follow through.

Robin Uthappa (24), Andre Russell (31) and Shubman Gill (16) chipped in with important runs and helped KKR post a huge total. Andrew Tye took four wickets but gave 41 runs in the process. All the six Punjab bowlers used went for over 10 runs per over.

Source: Agencies

risingbd/Dhaka/May 12, 2018/A K Azad