KKR vs KXIP: KL Rahul, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and the Sixes they hit; see scoreboard
Punjab won the toss and invited Kolkata Knight Riders to bat first. Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine came down the pavilion to open the innings for KKR. As soon as they started batting, Punjab's decision to bowl looked ill-thought. While Lynn got out in the 6th over, Sunil Narine made it big and went on to add 75 runs to the scoreboard off just 36 balls. Later came Andre Russell and Robin Uthappa, none of whom could make it big but added very crucial 24 and 31 runs respectively.
Skipper Dinesh Karthik came in the later part of the game but slammed the ball harder than anybody else adding 50 off just 23 balls.
Punjab's bowling attack seemingly surrendered before the KR batting powerhouse that led to KKR setting up the highest total of 245 runs this IPL.
The start was obviously nervous for the Punjab keeping in view the mammoth target KXIP batsmen were tasked to chase. Nonetheless, the batting superpowers KXIP put forward the most lethal hitters of the IPL, Chris Gayle and KL Rahul to chase the humongous target. Gayle and Rahul looked well and were hitting the ball adequately hard keeping the target in their minds. However, in the sixth overcame the first blow to KXIP in the form of Gayle, who got out at a score of 21 after playing 17 balls.
Lokesh Rahul was batting firmly with confidence rarely seen. Hitting the ball hard and batting constantly at over 200 strike rates is a norm for him and he followed his standards before he got bold on one of Russell's deliveries. Rahul was batting at 66 after 29 balls.
The players on the other side kept falling as Karun Nair and Mayank Agrawal just came and went back. Punjab did show the nerves of steel and the determination to chase down the biggest total of the IPL 11 but fell short.
The match was a great show for the ones who like to see long sixes being hit in small grounds. The match cannot be termed to one of the nail-biting encounters, IPL has been coming up with, this season. As the hopes were already down on Punjab's win after KL Rahul departed.
