Punjab stay in playoff race with much-needed win

The Punjab Kings live to fight one more day in the race for the playoffs in IPL 2021 as KL Rahul’s side got over the line in another last-over finish against the Kolkata Knight Riders. With the ball, the Indian trio of Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Shami did excellently to limit KKR to 165 before KL Rahul anchored the side home along with some crucial contributions from Mayank Agarwal and the returning Shahrukh Khan.

This victory lifts KL Rahul’s side above Mumbai to 5th in the table, with Punjab now level on points with KKR before the final two games of the league stage.

KKR beefed up their batting for this fixture with the inclusion of Tim Seifert in place of his countryman Lockie Ferguson, and the Men in Purple were given an excellent start by Venkatesh Iyer at the top. Despite losing Shubman Gill early on, the tall left-hander continued to take the attack to Punjab and help Kolkata put on 48 runs in the powerplay. Iyer and Tripathi have been the backbone of KKR’s good form in the UAE, and the pair put on an excellent 72-run partnership to give the team a perfect platform for a big score.

Iyer targeted the likes of Fabian Allen and Nathan Ellis on his way to his 2nd IPL fifty while Tripathi chipped in with a useful cameo off 34 from 26. The stand was eventually broken when Tripathi holed out to long-on against Ravi Bishnoi and the leg-spinner struck again in his final over with the key wicket off Iyer on 67.

Bishnoi’s twin-strikes exposed the struggling KKR middle order, and Eoin Morgan’s poor form in the IPL continued after he was nailed on his pads by Mohammed Shami for two. KKR crossed 150 thanks to a handy knock off 31 from 18 from Nitish Rana, but the Punjab death bowlers – Shami and Arshdeep – closed things out excellently and conceded only 14 runs off the final two overs to restrict KKR to 165.

Totals around 160 have been regularly defended in the UAE leg of IPL 2021, but the Dubai track was on the flatter side, allowing Punjab to chase down the target with minimal fuss. With Chris Gayle opting to leave the IPL bubble, Mayank Agarwal’s return to the side added much-needed stability to the top order, and the opener gave the Kings a strong start while Rahul looked to anchor the innings at the other end.

Agarwal was removed by Varun Chakravarthy on 40 off 27, but Rahul took the game deep for the Kings while the likes of Pooran and Markram looked to be aggressive at the other end. Punjab benefitted from some sloppy fielding and dropped catches from KKR, and eventually finished the game thanks to an excellent 9-ball 22 from Shahrukh Khan in his first appearance for the side in the UAE leg.