WHAT THEY SAID
Chris Gayle, MoM: I have been doing some off-field training with the trainer when I wasn't playing. You have to have the good feeling. We are happy now and still have a long way to go. It was important to assess the conditions as quickly as possible. Once you get the first boundary going, I was always going to get into the zone. We needed some sort of momentum to get that will power. We need senior players to step up.
KL Rahul, winning captain: We decided to play positive cricket. We believed that things can turn around. A complete team performance. Batting looking good, bowling looking good, fielding has always been good. With the bubble, you don't have your closed ones. When you have Anil Kumble as the coach, it's not surprising that we have two leg-spinners. Complete team effort, a lot of credit has to go to the coaches. When we started five games ago, we knew we had to win all the games. One game at a time, keep the confidence going and keep the energy going.
Mandeep Singh: This was very special. My father always used to tell me to remain not out in every game, definitely special. He always used to tell me, whether you score 100 or 200, you should be not out. I had a talk with [KL] Rahul before the start of the game. Last game I was trying to score quicker and I'm always comfortable doing that. I told Rahul if I play my normal game, I will win the game and I had the belief.
Eoin Morgan, losing captain:
You have to counterattack if you lose early wickets in Sharjah, and identify the wicket early. Disappointed with the partnerships, thought we could have scored more (runs). When we were three down, we wanted a partnership going. Around 180-190 would have been a good score, but we kept losing wickets. That's one of the challenges this year, going from ground to ground. Hopefully, we adjust to the conditions in Dubai. That's the nature of the tournament, there are not many bad sides.
HIGHLIGHTS
KXIP 150/2 in 18.5 overs:
Kings XI Punjab wins by eight wickets to jump up to the fourth spot on the IPL 2020 table. Gayle's wicket in the first ball of this over comes too late. The damage had been done long, long back.
KXIP 147/1 in 18 overs: Cummins starts the over off with a pitch-perfect yorker but Mandeep later takes him for runs- pumping one over covers and then following that with a mammoth over the cow corner. That also brings up the pair's 100-run stand.
KXIP 136/1 in 17 overs: Lockie hits the deck with a bang and Gayle gets a leading edge off the pull and the ball has raced away to the ropes. Gotta feel for the New Zealand pacer. The next ball, however, has been hit harder down the ground for a six. The Universe Boss also gets to his fifty in this over - 30th in the IPL.
KXIP 123/1 in 16 overs: Mandeep is in a hurry! He pulls a short ball from Prasidh away to glory over midwicket for a four. Only two balls down, he gets to his sixth IPL fifty off 49 deliveries and gestures to the skies, dedicating the knock to his late father. The whole dugout is up on its feet to applaud the effort. He has hammered another shot towards the same region in absolute disdain. As we enter the timeout, KXIP needs only 27 runs in 24 balls.
KXIP 113/1 in 15 overs: Mandeep starts the Varun over with a boundary now. This was overcooked by the 29-year-old from Chennai and Mandeep gets it away with a lofted shot over extra cover.
KXIP 104/1 in 14 overs: The fifty-run partnership comes up for Gayle and Mandeep with a single off Lockie's first. Mandeep picks up a boundary later to put Punjab only 46 runs short of the target at the end of the over.
KXIP 96/1 in 13 overs: Narine bowls one too short and Gayle wouldn't let go of these freebies on offer. His pull shot sees the ball sail over deep midwicket for a 76-metre maximum.
KXIP 86/1 in 12 overs: Lockie to bowl this over. I had almost forgotten about him. Why is the Kiwi pacer being held back when your opponent has to chase a low total? Mandeep, however, unfazed, has slammed the very first ball of the over towards midwicket to get a boundary. If that wasn't enough, Gayle has hit another boundary, just beating the third man fielder.
KXIP 76/1 in 11 overs: Gayle is just getting started and Narine just found that out in the ugliest manner possible. Gets this full and the Universe Boss goes long-on again. A Gaylestorm brewing in Sharjah?
KXIP 67/1 in 10 overs: Mandeep Singh switches gears to bring up his 1,000 runs representing Kings XI Punjab, with a crafty boundary towards long leg. Gayle takes on Varun next, taking the mystery right out of him, to cart him for two huge maximums - one towards long on and another towards long off.
KXIP 50/1 in 9 overs: As Chris Gayle comes out to the crease, Narine resumes his duties at the other end, as the spinners continue to bowl in tandem. Fifty comes up for KXIP after Narine concedes only three runs.
KXIP 47/1 in 8 overs: Chakravarthy to continue operating from the other end. Rahul slices a widish delivery past the point region for a boundary. There was nothing Nitish Rana could do to stop the ball in its tracks. However, Varun comes back well to trap the big fish in his net. KL Rahul has been given out, LBW. To be honest, it seemed as if the turn would have taken the ball down leg side but Rahul doesn't go for the review after having a brief chat with the non-striker.
KXIP 41/0 in 7 overs: Good call from Morgan to bring in Narine right after a very good over from Chakravarthy. Will he provide the much-needed breakthrough? He doesn't but Rahul and Mandy don't look to go after him as well.
KXIP 36/0 in 6 overs: Varun to bowl his first over since receiving his maiden call-up to the Indian T20I side for the Australia series later this year. And he keeps it super-economical, as usual, yet again - just two runs off it.
KXIP 34/0 in 5 overs: 75 metres! Cummins bowls Mandeep just the length he feeds off and the latter has bludgeoned this right out of the park. And Mandy fires another boundary, off a fuller ball from the Australian pacer, this time through midwicket.
KXIP 21/0 in 4 overs: Rahul's on the roll yet again! He greets Prasidh with two back-to-back boundaries, slamming the first one over midwicket and the other one straight down the ground.
KXIP 11/0 in 3 overs: Oh, so close! Cummins almost gets his first wicket as Mandeep misfires to land only inches ahead of Lockie at mid off.
KXIP 9/0 in 2 overs: Should be an ideal stage to give the ball to Lockie, considering KKR has to little to defend tonight. Morgan normally calls in Lockie to deliver right after the PowerPlay. The Kiwi pacer relies mostly on his brute pace and he has not only been among wickets but has also been the most economical bowler of the tournament, thus far. Prasidh to bowl. Does quite a decent job to keep it down to just four but the ball's not moving around much.
KXIP 5/0 in 1 over: KL Rahul has been nothing short of phenomenal in this season of the IPL. And that shows in the confidence with which he executes his shots. A vicious slice off Cummins' first goes for boundary, aided by Prasidh Krishna's midfield near the fence. Not the start KKR would have wanted with a below-par score on the board.
- KL Rahul to open alongside Mandeep Singh, as was the case in KXIP's previous outing. Pat Cummins to try and find some movement with the new ball in the first over.
KKR 149/9 after 20 overs:
Jordan's dominance at the death continues. Not only has he kept it down to just five runs off the last over, he has also castled Varun Chakravarthy, who has just earned a maiden T20I call-up for India's upcoming Australia tour after the IPL.
KKR 144/8 after 19 overs: Shami gets his third and arguably the biggest of 'em all as Gill, looking to farm the strike, has hit a full toss to Nicholas Pooran at deep midwicket. There's no way the Trinidadian is missing those. Meanwhile, Ferguson is doing a great job with the bat as well. After Gill denied him strike earlier in the over, the Kiwi tonks this over deep extra cover for a maximum.
KKR 135/7 after 18 overs: Two consecutive boundaries by Gill to greet Jordan - one through the gap at extra cover and another piercing the point region. There's an appeal for an LBW later in the over but the umpire doesn't seem interested.
KKR 124/7 after 17 overs: A boundary after what seems like years for KKR! They had started off so strongly but Punjab pegged them right back with back-to-back wickets. Lockie Ferguson slices it just past the slip. Gill ends the over on a high with another boundary over deep extra cover.
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KKR 115/7 after 16 overs: Unlucky! DK's DRS call comes to bite KKR back as Cummins fails to read Bishnoi's wrong'un and the ball crashes onto his pads. It was clearly going down leg but the umpire raises his finger anyway. No reviews left for the host.
KKR 114/6 after 15 overs: Swing and a miss and Nagarkoti departs! Murugan's wrong'un takes a sharp turn to crash right into the woodwork. A mellow celebration from KXIP follows.
KKR 113/5 after 14 overs: Bishnoi to continue the good work. Gill, meanwhile, reaches his seventh IPL fifty off 36 deliveries. KKR looking to just keep rotating the strike for the time being.
KKR 107/5 after 13 overs: Murugan concedes only two off this over to further apply the brakes on the KKR innings. Another strategic timeout has been taken.
KKR 105/5 after 12 overs: Interesting call to bring Kamlesh Nagarkoti in. Why?What will his role be hereon? Bishnoi keeps things tight this over, restricting the batsmen to run four singles.
KKR 101/5 after 11 overs: Jordan is back into the attack. Will he be attacking Narine with the early bouncers which seem to be his weakness, as was pointed out by Brett Lee ahead of the match? For now, Narine plays the smarter game as he utilises the pace on Jordan's short ball to guide it away behind Rahul for a boundary. The Barbadian and Trinidadian exchange a smile. And Jordan sends him right back! It's all happening out here in Sharjah... Change of pace causes Narine's undoing and the KKR all-rounder gets the inside edge to disturb his furniture.
KKR 92/4 after 10 overs: Ravi Bishnoi strikes in his very first over, breaking the crucial 81-run stand! Morgan has to take the long walk after he sweeps this straight down Murugan's throat at deep backward square leg. Earlier, Gill had carted Bishnoi over long on for a maximum. Sunil Narine is in.
KKR 82/3 after 9 overs: Chris Jordan will bowl his first over. He is tactically mixing it up, mostly looking to go short and wide of the off stump for both Morgan and Gill. He is making them reach out and chase the ball as a result of which the batsmen are not assuming complete control or getting under any of those shots. KXIP heaves a sigh of relief as only two runs come from this over after all the bloodbath!
KKR 80/3 after 8 overs: A little bit of legspin to add to the mix for KXIP. Murugan Ashwin, who has been in good touch this season, will bowl his first. Morgan, however, couldn't care less about his numbers as he launches Ash's third delivery into outer space. Wait... is this coming down within the limits? Who wants it? Who wants it? The shorter boundaries work in KKR's favour and this has gone all the way. Murugan goes fuller off the last ball and Gill has ensured yet again that he goes exploring the midwicket rooftop!
KKR 66/3 after 7 overs: The contest only gets more mouthwatering! Maxi's turn to bear the brunt now as Morgan first goes for a drive through extra cover. He follows it up with a biggie over deep backward square leg. Time for the first strategic timeout of the innings.
KKR 54/3 after 6 overs: The Knights are going ahead with the counter-attacking plan. Morgan welcomes Shami, shimmying down the track, to make the fence in a single bounce. And again! Morgan plays the late cut to guide this towards deep backward point. OH. MY. GILL! Would have said he is sending people scampering for cover, but these are empty stands in UAE and Gill is dispatching the bowlers right to the roof. Two back-to-back cracking sixes!
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KKR 33/3 after 5 overs: KKR is bent on taking the attack to the opponents as Morgan and Gill take on Arshdeep to score two boundaries against him in his second over. The first four, streaky, came off an edge of Morgan's blade, down the third man area. Gill joins to crunch another boundary through midwicket.
KKR 23/3 after 4 overs: Morgan's eyes light up as Shami gives away some width on offer. In no time, has the England skip muscled that loose delivery through the backward point region to the ropes. That makes the India pacer come round the wicket to the left-handed batsman.
KKR 18/3 after 3 overs: Gill welcomes Arshdeep with a fine boundary that has been craftily punched along the on-side. The young pacer strays down wide of the off stump off the third and it has been called a wide. Three runs come off the remaining five legitimate deliveries.
KKR 10/3 after 2 overs: A brilliant start to the over from Mohammad Shami as we spot the first hint of some movement on the ball away from the right-hander. All-too-familiar scenes follow soon enough as Tripathi opens the face of his willow and ends up nicking one to Rahul behind the stumps. Oh, good lord! DK, rather confidently, goes upstairs for a caught behind decision only to see a spike on the ultraedge on the giant screen. Weird, weird review!
KKR 9/1 after 1 over: Gill gets off the mark straightaway with a single. The next delivery cannot be called one of Maxwell's best but it does the job alright! Last match's hero Rana's gone for a golden duck after an attempted sweep flies straight to Chris Gayle at short fine leg. Rahul Tripathi, who walks in next, smokes one over deep midwicket for a 74-metre six!
- Kings XI Punjab skipper KL Rahul with a bit of a pep talk for his boys. Eoin Morgan has gone with Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana, who revelled in his new opener role in the previous match against Delhi Capitals, again. Glenn Maxwell to open the bowling.
KKR INNINGS
PLAYING XI
KKR: Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (w), Eoin Morgan (c), Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy
KXIP: KL Rahul (w/c), Mandeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Deepak Hooda, Chris Jordan, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
WHAT THEY SAID
Eoin Morgan, KKR captain: We would have bowled as well, pretty much for the same reasons. We did well against DC, played the way we wanted. Our fate is still in our hands. Andre Russell is unfortunately still not fit, so same team.
KL Rahul, KXIP captain: We will bowl first. The dew might have an effect in the second innings. Winning gives a lot of confidence to the group, it makes them keep performing better and better. No changes to our team.
TOSS
PITCH REPORT
MATCH PREVIEW BY
P. K. AJITH KUMAR
The IPL has reached its business end with all but one team – Chennai Super Kings – in contention for a place in the playoffs. Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore occupy the top three spots in the table and all of them are nearly there, but the race is wide open for the fourth slot.
Two contenders for that last berth face off at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday. The match between Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders should be a fascinating one, with both looking in good firm and keen to get that crucial win in the last lap of the qualifying phase.
The build-up
The double-header weekend had provided some pulsating action from the deserts of Arabia. The new week is set to kick off with more excitement, as the fourth-placed team, KKR, takes on the side lying fifth, KXIP.
Both have played 11 matches, but the Knight Riders have two points more. With 14 points they are, in fact, tied with Mumbai and Delhi. So it's the men from Punjab who are under a bit more pressure. But, then, they are on a roll, having notched up four wins from their last four matches.
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The fourth of those victories – against RCB – was snatched from the jaws of defeat. The bowlers did a great job to suffocate the Bangalore batsmen, who somehow failed to chase down what should have been one of the easiest targets in this year's tournament.
Needing 127, Virat Kohli's men were 100 for three with four overs remaining. But seamers Chris Jordan and Arshdeep Singh came up with superb spells to gift their team an unexpected victory.
Pace spearhead Mohammed Shami and wrist spinners Ravi Bishnoi and M. Ashwin too have played their parts in the great turnaround story for KXIP, which had been languishing at the rock bottom not so long ago.
The key men
But the team's strength has been batting. Captain K.L. Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, who is expected to return after sitting out the last match, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran and Glenn Maxwell, are all capable of winning matches single-handedly.
Like Punjab, Eoin Morgan's men too are coming into the match after a morale-boosting win in their last match, that too against Delhi, easily one of the best sides in the tournament.
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The 59-run victory was set up by Nitish Rana and Sunil Narine. Shubman Gill and Eoin Morgan have been amongst the runs, too, though the latter's strike rate could be better at the top of the order.
Lockie Ferguson's addition to the eleven – albeit belatedly – has transformed KKR's bowling. The genuine quick from New Zealand has been brilliant on the slow surfaces in the UAE.
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His trans-Tasman neighbour Pat Cummins has played every game. The tall fast bowler has been brilliant too and has also made some useful runs down the order. Spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who took five wickets against Delhi, will be raring to go again.
The side's first meeting had ended in a two-run victory for Kolkata, and that was Punjab's last defeat before the turnaround.
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HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
The two teams have faced each other 26 times in the IPL so far, with KKR holding a 18-8 head-to-head win/loss record over KXIP.
Last IPL meeting
KKR (164/6 in 20 overs) beat KXIP (162/5 in 20 overs) by 2 runs.
Earlier this season, the sides had squared off in Abu Dhabi on October 10, Saturday. Kolkata beat Punjab by two runs in the UAE on the back of captain Dinesh Karthik's 29-ball 58 and a half-century from Shubman Gill. Knight Riders bowler Prasidh Krishna had taken a three-wicket haul against Kings XI back then.
Position on the Points Table
KKR currently occupies the fourth position in the 2020 IPL points table with 12 points from eleven outings, which include six wins and five losses. Meanwhile, KXIP is placed fifth in the standings with 10 points, having won five games and lost six.
IPL 2020 Form guide
KKR - The franchise has two victories from its last five games
KXIP - The team has four wins from its last five matches
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Overall, KKR has won the IPL twice, beating Kings XI by three wickets in one of those finals. The 2014 summit clash is the only final Punjab has ever reached so far.
THE BEST PERFORMERS THIS SEASON
Most runs
1) K. L. Rahul (KXIP) - 567
2) Mayank Agarwal (KXIP) - 398
3) Nicholas Pooran (KXIP) - 327
4) Shubman Gill (KKR) - 321
5) Eoin Morgan (KKR) - 295
Most Wickets
1) Mohammed Shami (KXIP) - 17
2) Varun Chakravarthy (KKR) - 12
3) Ravi Bishnoi (KXIP) - 10
PREDICTED XI
KKR: Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (w), Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan (c), Pat Cummins, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy
KXIP: KL Rahul (c/w), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Deepak Hooda, Chris Jordan, M Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
TOP FIVE PLAYERS WITH MOST POINTS IN FANTASY SQUADS
1. KL Rahul (KXIP) - 207.5 points
2. Pat Cummins (KKR) - 177 points
3. Mohammad Shami (KXIP) - 173.5 points
4. Mayank Agarwal (KXIP) - 165 points
5. Nicholas Pooran (KXIP) - 147 points
NUMBER-CRUNCHING
- Highest run-getter: KL Rahul (567)
- Highest wicket-taker: Kagiso Rabada (23)
- Highest individual score: KL Rahul (132*)
- Best bowling figures: Varun Chakravarthy (5/20)
- Best economy: Lockie Ferguson (5.16)
- Most fours: Shikhar Dhawan (52)
- Most sixes: Sanju Samson (23)
- Fastest ball: Anrich Nortje (156.22 kmph)
- Biggest six: Nicholas Pooran (106m)
- Fastest fifty: Nicholas Pooran (17 balls)
- Fastest century: Mayank Agarwal (45 balls)
IPL Points Table
WHERE TO WATCH IPL 2020 - KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS VS KINGS XI PUNJAB LIVE?
The Indian Premier League match Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab will be broadcast live on
the
Star Sports Network. Live streaming will also be available on the
Hotstar app or website exclusively for VIP and Premium users.
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