Last Update on: October 1st, 2021 at 11:57 pm
Punjab Kings stayed alive in the tournament as they held their nerve in the final stages to secure a 5-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders. Both the teams are battling it out to make the playoffs and they now have the same number of points after 12 matches.
Set a target of 166, Punjab openers, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal started out well. The latter received a gift from Eoin Morgan in the first over and he piled on the misery, playing a stroke-filled 40 before Morgan compensated for his earlier drop.
Rahul stayed put at one end, knowing that his side has a tendency to bottle run chases in the death overs. Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram, and Shah Rukh Khan contributed with cameos and took the side closer to the line. Rahul was quite slow early on but he picked the pace later on.
He brought up his fifty with a six off Tim Southee in the 15th over. There was some late drama in the match when Rahul was caught by Rahul Tripathi in the deep but he survived as the third umpire ruled it in his favor. He eventually fell but PBKS managed to get over the line in the last over.
Earlier, KKR got off to a poor start as Shubman Gill was dismissed by Arshdeep Singh in the third over. In-form Venkatesh Iyer then built a partnership with Tripathi and the duo took Kolkata closer to the 100-run mark. Iyer scored his second fifty of the tournament, continuing his impressive showing so far.
Nitish Rana was quite excellent in the middle-overs as well. His wicket, however, forced Kolkata into a shell in the death overs. Arshdeep and Ravi Bishnoi were the pick of the bowlers for PBKS, snaring three and two wickets respectively. Twitterati was happy with the result as it increased the intensity of the mid-table squabble.
Here are a few reactions to PBKS win over KKR:
What a cracking match in the @IPL
Well done @PunjabKingsIPLBut disappointing one shocking 3rd umpire decision could've cost a team their playoff spot #SelectDugout
— Scott Styris (@scottbstyris) October 1, 2021
Namma ooruuu SRK beats the original SRK #KKRvsPBKS #IPL2021
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) October 1, 2021
What a great news it will be for India if @klrahul11 goes to World Cup with the Orange cap. Well done captain for leading from the front. #KKRvPBKS
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) October 1, 2021
With the team they picked, #KKR needed to bat the opposition out of the game. 165, from that point of view, with a bowler short, was under par..
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 1, 2021
Whatever Venkatesh Iyer touches in #IPL2021 has turned out to be gold for #KKR.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 1, 2021
#KKRvPBKS @IPL #KLRahul in IPL : pic.twitter.com/93s4tRevp7
— Suraj Verma (@iamsurajverma) October 1, 2021
Shah Rukh Khan's team won!
It isn't #KKR though 😜#IPL2021 @PunjabKingsIPL— Sree N (@believer_sree) October 1, 2021
Still alive #PunjabKings
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 1, 2021
Shahrukh Khan finishes #KKR with a six – 22* runs from just 9 balls including 1 four and 2 sixes. The finisher, Shahrukh Khan.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 1, 2021
Punjab Kings' only purpose in IPL pic.twitter.com/F9FQ2nHMFx
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) October 1, 2021
Any such catches would look that it touched the ground it you watch frame by frame, but isn't the case always. That Rahul Tripathi one looked out.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 1, 2021
We'll played KKR. They tried till end in a match where luck just wasn't going their way.
And yes, Eoin Morgan should show some self-respect and step out of the team.— Abijit Ganguly (@AbijitG) October 1, 2021
Do u remember what I said K.L Rahul and Mayank Agarwal out ho jaye jaldi th hum jeet jayenge K.l Rahul 19th over tak chala n one more thing it's the bad performance of our fielders not good performance of #PBKS that made them win opponent th weak hi thi bs hum ne ganda khela 😎😎
— Naina (@Lilith_blair31) October 1, 2021
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