KOLKATA Knight Riders (KKR) have made George Bailey’s Kings XI Punjab pay for a poor end to their first innings and notched an upset win in the Indian Premier League last night.In a match that started in sweltering conditions, with temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Celsius, Kings XI Punjab managed just 37 runs in their final six overs to finish with 8-149 from 20 overs.
KKR, who entered the game with just three wins from eight matches, always looked comfortable in the run chase with captain Gautam Gambhir (63 n.o. off 45 balls) and Manish Pandey (36 n.o. off 35) helping their side to the target with two overs to spare and nine wickets in hand.
Australians Mitchell Johnson (0-33 from three overs) and Glenn Maxwell (0-11 from one over) were expensive, with only Akshar Patel (0-20 from four overs) restricting KKR’s batsmen.
Earlier, Kings XI opener Virender Sehwag blazed away to notch a streaky half-century before being dismissed for 72 off 50 balls. His innings included 11 fours and a six.
But Maxwell (14) and David Miller (13) couldn’t have the impact last night that they have had in previous games.
Johnson scored 14 at the end of the innings while Bailey was not out on 12, but the latter pair struggled to hit boundaries in the crucial final overs of the innings.
Morne Morkel was terrific for KKR with the ball and finished with 2-20 from his four overs while Piyush Chawla finished with 3-19 for the winners.
Chawla also snared the crucial wicket of Maxwell, IPL-7 leading run-scorer (and six-hitter), before he was able to break the shackles.
KKR are now 4-5 and up to fourth on the eight-team ladder, while Kings XI (7-2) stay on top. (CA)