IPL 2021: Rahul Tripathi-Eoin Morgan's sensible batting helps KKR troune PBKS by 5 wickets

The ongoing season of the Indian Premier League is the 14th edition of the cash-rich Twenty20 league. Punjab Kings is yet to win the IPL title to date. Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders has won the title previously on two occasions but has failed to challenge for the title of late.

IPL 2021, Match 21: Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders (PBKS vs KKR) report-ayh

Team Newsable

Ahmedabad, First Published Apr 26, 2021, 9:26 PM IST

Former champion Kolkata Knight Riders survived early hiccups to chase a reasonable target of 124 steadily and trounce Punjab Kings by five wickets in Match 21 of the 2021 Indian Premier League at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday. Some sensible batting from opener Rahul Tripathi (41) and skipper Eoin Morgan (47*) helped KKR script its second win of the season.

Winning the toss, Morgan went in with an unchanged playing XI. As for PBKS, skipper KL Rahul made a change, bringing in pacer Jordan for Fabian Allen.

Although PBKS lost just a wicket (Rahul- 19) within the powerplay, it was off to a slow start, managing just 37 runs by the sixth over. Within the next couple of over, by the score of 42, it lost a couple of more wickets (Chris Gayle- 0 and Deepak Hooda- 1), while it could manage just 56 by the tenth over.

In the 12th over, PBKS lost its fourth wicket, as fellow opener Mayank fell to Narine after being caught by Rahul Tripathi. However, the incoming batsmen failed to build any significant partnerships, as four more wickets were lost within the subsequent 38 runs, with the score reading 98/8 by the 19th over.

LIVE SCORECARD: IPL 2021, Match 21: Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders (PBKS vs KKR)

While Nicholas Pooran (19) scored the most in the middle-order, Jordan tried to do a cameo in the final over off Krishna, smashing him for a couple of sixes. However, he was knocked over for 30, as PBKS could finish on a paltry total of 123/9 on a seemingly slow Ahmedabad track.

For KKR, six bowlers were brought into the attack. While Krisha attained the most success, pacer Andre Russell was the most economical. Also, mystery spinner Sunil Narine and pacer Pat Cummins did their part, with a couple of scalps each.

As KKR came out for the chase, it was off to a jittery start, losing its opening three wickets by the third over (Nitish Rana- 0, Shubman Gill- 9 and Narine- 0). It could have been four within the powerplay itself, as Tripathi survived a run-out scare in the fourth over, with the score at the end of the sixth over reading 42/3.

Nevertheless, the pair of Tripathi and Morgan took charge of the innings and played rational cricket, contributing to a 66-run stand for the fourth wicket, which set the platform for the win. In the 11th over, Tripathi fell to spinner Deepak Hooda after being tempted to go for a big one and was caught by Shahrukh Khan.

As Russell came out to bat, he was expected to finish things off but departed for just ten off an unfortunate run out in the 15th over, at 98. Nonetheless, along with wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik, Morgan played it out and handed KKR a comfortable five-wicket win within 16.4 overs.

Meanwhile, PBKS, too, utilised six bowlers, all putting in equal efforts. Nevertheless, Ravi Bishnoiwas the most economical of the lot.
Brief scores: PBKS 123/9 (Mayank- 31, Jordan- 30; Krishna- 3/30) lost to KKR 126/5 in 16.4 overs (Tripathi- 41, Morgan- 47*; Henriques- 1/5) by five wickets.

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Last Updated Apr 26, 2021, 11:20 PM IST

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IPL 2021: Rahul Tripathi-Eoin Morgan's sensible batting helps KKR troune PBKS by 5 wickets

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