Press "Enter" to skip to content

IPL 2018 KKR vs KXIP scores update: Rain stops play

New Delhi: In Saturday’s first clash of the IPL, buoyant KXIP will play in-form hosts KKR. Both teams have won their last league games convincingly and would like to continue winning. Who could forget the whirlwind ton of Chris Gayle, his 6th in the IPL, which took KXIP to a daunting total. The Punjab bowlers then showed up and strangled SRH to collect their third win. Similarly, KKR proved too good for RR the other day as both bowling and batting performed their roles well to brush aside any challenge to breach Rajasthan’s Jaipur fortress. In headlines were Nitish Rana and the wrist spinners, who spun a web around the RR batters to restrict them to an under-par total. So when both the sides take on each other, both of them will be trying to put on a big total as the bowling of both teams pack the quality to defend the target. 

Meanwhile, KXIP have won the toss and will bowl against KKR. In the previous match, R Ashwin set the total but today he felt like chasing a total. KKR is unchanged while Punjab have left out Mohit Sharma and have picked Ankit Rajpoot.  

Gayle was at his best last night when he smashed this season’s first century — a 63-ball 104 not out — at the expense of one of the best bowling outfits, Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Gayle smashed 11 sixes, seven of them coming against the world’s top ranked T20 international bowler Rashid Khan, and gave a fitting response to his critics after the humiliation he had faced at the last IPL auctions where he went unsold.

The 38-year-old enforcer, who represented Royal Challengers Bangalore and KKR, twice went unsold after 10 glorious years before the Virender Sehwag-mentored side gave him a lifeline. Gayle still had to sit out the first two matches, but when his moment came he played two match-winning knocks, including a 63 against Chennai Super Kings.

“A lot of people said ‘Chris has a point to prove’. Time waits for no one but I’m not here to prove anything to anyone. I just want to move on, enjoy my cricket,” Gayle said.  The battle at the Eden Gardens will see Gayle facing the spin challenge of KKR with West Indies teammate Sunil Narine and India sensation Kuldeep Yadav leading the attack that also has Piyush Chawla and part-timer Nitish Rana.

Kings XI Punjab look a transformed unit under India discard Ravichandran Ashwin. They now seem to be on a mission with a top-heavy batting comprising KL Rahul and Gayle followed by the flair of Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair.

In Australian Aaron Finch and Yuvraj Singh, they have two destructive finishers who are due for big knocks, and KKR would look for early breakthroughs to mount pressure on the duo. Russell, another explosive Jamaican, singled-handedly decimated Delhi Daredevils in his 12-ball 41 in their last match at the Eden.

The biggest gain for the home side has been that of Mumbai Indians recruit Rana who got back-to-back Man of the Match awards in their wins over Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals.  The left-hander has showed fine temperament, forming the backbone of their batting, which wore an unsettled look at the start.

Rana’s part time off-spin has also given the team some crucial breakthroughs — his wickets of Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and Ajinkya Rahane (Rajasthan Royals) bear testimony to that.

Their spinners bowlers 14 overs in Jaipur, accounting for five wickets to stall Rajasthan Royals to 160/8 en route to their five-wicket win. Afghan’s latest spin sensation Mujeeb ur Rahman will also be the one to watch out for.

The 17-year-old off-spinner has been able to fox batsmen, including Kohli, with his guile and has a tidy economy rate of 6.80 from four matches.

Source: Zee News