Bowlers keep Kings XI's hopes alive

May 09, 2017

With Hashim Amla and David Miller having left for national duty, Kings XI Punjab chose only four specialist batsmen, and that may have contributed to a sedate start•BCCI

Kolkata Knight Riders were exerting enough control over the run rate for Gautam Gambhir to station himself close to the bat for his spinners•BCCI

A Kuldeep Yadav googly cut his innings short•BCCI

The partnership ended when Narine played all around a Mohit Sharma slower ball•BCCI

Lynn kept putting away the bad balls, but they were few and far between against some clever Kings XI bowling. His run-out in the 17th over, with the asking rate mounting, swung the game the hosts' way•BCCI

A flurry of fours from Manan Vohra injected some urgency, but three quick wickets immediately followed, leaving them 56 for 3 in the ninth over•BCCI

Glenn Maxwell and Wriddhiman Saha were in rebuild mode early in their partnership, but the crowd wanted fireworks•BCCI

But he had injected enough impetus into the innings for Kings XI to score 104 in their last ten overs and finish with 167 for 6•BCCI

That gave Kings XI just the opening they needed. The spinners found some grip and tied down Gautam Gambhir, who eventually holed out to deep midwicket for 8 off 18•BCCI

Mohit did the star turn with his slower balls and yorkers at the death, and a stuttering Knight Riders lost by 14 runs•BCCI

Maxwell obliged, clattering four sixes while scoring 44 off 25 balls•BCCI

Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine, fresh off a marauding display against Royal Challengers Bangalore, added 39 for the first wicket in just 3.3 overs•AFP

Rahul Tewatia took out Robin Uthappa in the same over, and Knight Riders were wobbling•BCCI