Chris Gayle combined with K.L. Rahul in a show of belligerent strokemaking to help Kings XI Punjab easily overcome Kolkata Knight Riders by nine wickets in a rain-curtailed IPL match at the Eden Gardens here on Saturday.
Gayle remained unbeaten on 62, hitting five fours and half-a-dozen sixes, while Rahul struck nine boundaries and two over the ropes in his 27-ball 60. They rattled up 116 (off 58 balls) for the opening wicket enabling KXIP pick up its first win at the venue since 2012.
Asked to bat first, Knight Riders scored 191 for seven, but following a rain interruption, the target was revised to 125 in 13 overs in accordance with the DLS method. The visitors surpassed it in style with 11 deliveries remaining.
In pursuit of the daunting original target, the KXIP openers Rahul and Gayle started off in a hurry. Rahul showed the way with a flurry of boundaries before Gayle joined the party, unleashing his trademark sixes. The two were severe on almost all the KKR bowlers to make the run chase look easy.
Before the rains set in, KXIP had reached 96 for no loss in 8.2 overs and continued in the same vein on resumption after a break of 95 minutes. Chris Gayle, who had scored 63 and an unbeaten 104 in his previous two outings against Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, has aggregated 229 after this knock of 62 (38b, 5x4, 6x6). And he is the current owner of the Orange Cap.
Two big partnerships
Earlier, Chris Lynn anchored Knight Riders’ innings, figuring in two big partnerships. After Sunil Narine departed in the second over with just a run to his name, Lynn was joined by Robin Uthappa and they added 72 off in 41 balls for the second wicket.
Uthappa started attacking straight away and had raced away to 34 when he was scalped in the ninth over by Kings XI skipper Ashwin, caught in the deep mid-wicket by Karun Nair off a mistimed pull. Kinght Riders suffered another blow as Nitish Rana was run out by a fine effort from Ankit Rajpoot.
Lynn and skipper Dinesh Karthik added 62 rapid runs for the fourth wicket. Picking up his first half-century of the current season, Lynn made 74 (41b, 6x4, 4x6), setting the stage for an imposing score. But, in the end, it wasn’t enough.
