IPL2021: M-45 || Kolkata Vs Punjab—Kings Roars With A Win !!
“Punjab Kings Wins in a thriller by 05 Wickets !!”
What a game !! Punjab Kings managed to find that lucky escape & wins a thriller in the last over of the match. Punjab’s panic show continues, once their skipper departed & poor captaincy from Eoin Morgan held responsible for the loss of Knights in this game. Kings still in the race for playoffs & purple army find themselves in a messy situation, after this loss.
Team Changes: →
Punjab Kings: (PBKS)
A crazy team, who made 23 changes before this match & made two more changes to this game — not surprised at all. Mayank Agarwal got fit & he had to return to the team & Fabian Allen makes it to the playing eleven. Presence of Mayank will surely boost the confidence of skipper — “K.L.Rahul”, as he is the only consistent run-scorer for the team.
Kolkata Knight Riders: (KKR)
The team changes made by Knight Riders, were havoc. No way that one could understand. It’s hard to tell, whether it was a call of think tank of KKR, a coach or a captain — but it was “horrendous”. In this match, Knights brought — “Seifert”, the one who opens the batting & played him at no.7 !! Once again, an indian bowler is replaced & now “Shivam Mavi” got his first game. Just can’t understand, why an all rounder of a calibre of — “Shakib-Al-Hasan” is performing duty of warming the bench ? Poor selections !!
Steady Innings & Mini Collapse of Knights…..
Rahul — The skipper of Punjab Kings won an all important toss & opted to field first. The latest sensation of IPL-2021 — Vyankatesh Iyer was in his elements. The big problem for Kolkata Knight Riders was at the other end. Form of Shubman Gill is now becoming a matter of concern for purple army. One more failure added to the list of Shubman Gill(7). KKR lost an early wicket in this crucial encounter.
Now, the two in form players of purple army were at the crease. Rahul Tripathi & Vyankatesh Iyer, both took the bowlers to the cleans in the power-play. Now runs were coming at ease. On one end, it was Iyer who majorly played the big shots & runs were coming in boundaries only & Tripathi was rotating the strike smartly.KKR were back on track.
These two put up a 72 run partnership, before Tripathi(34) found himself caught in the spin-web of leggy — “Ravi Bishnoi”. But, Iyer kept hitting the boundaries & it didn’t affect his style of play. Kings needed wicket badly 7 once again it was the spin-web of Bishnoi. did the trick & this time, a big fish — Venkatesh Iyer(67) was OUT !! Iyer scored another half century before he departed & gave a launching pad to the team. It was the 15th over of the innings & KKR already put 120 runs on board.
But then Kings bounced back !! As Knights pushed the panic button once again & it resulted in a mini-collapse of the team. The worst form of skipper Eoin Morgan(2) continued & Shami knocked him over. Dinesh Karthik(11), Seifert(2) & Sunil Naraine(3*) were just not able to score the runs in the death overs. Pick of the bowlers for Kings was — Arshdeep Singh, who picked three important wickets at the crucial time in the innings. Kolkata Knight Riders were limited to 165, which still is a competitive score. Thanks to Vyankatesh Iyer,Rahul Tripathi & Nitish Rana(31) who made some valuable contributions for the team. KKR — 165/7 (20.0 Overs)
Rahul-Mayank Wins For Kings…..Shahrukh Finishes in Style
At the halfway stage of the match, Kings camp must be more confident about chasing this target. For Punjab Kings to get over the line, skipper K.L.Rahul & their marquee batsman — Mayank Agarwal holds the key. Henceforth, these two openers had a watchful start to the innings. As expected, Mayank took the role of an aggressor & start to play some big shots.
Knights were aware of the fact that getting these two quickly,was the key to win this match.Purple army came with different plans but Kings didn’t fall to any of those. On the contrary,Punjab Kings managed to score at 9.0 runs per over in the power-play & didn’t lost a single wicket. Purple army was under pressure. It was once again, the mystery spinner — Varun Chakravarthy who answered to the captain’s call & gave the first breakthrough to KKR, in the form of Mayank Agarwal(40) — looking very dangerous.
Nicholas Pooran came ahead of Aiden Markram & immediately hit a flat six. It felt like, we’re about to see a super-striking Pooran. But,poor form of Pooran(12) continued here also & couldn’t stay for long at the crease. Now, it was all upto skipper Rahul & Aiden Markram, who was among the runs. Both played some sensible cricket & runs were coming easy. kings were getting close to the target. Match reached in the exciting phase — last five overs. Markram decided to cut loose & spin maestro — Sunil Naraine bowled a beauty & Markram(18) & got OUT. Big Blow to Punjab Kings !!
Deepak Hooda had the same story, as of Nicholas Pooran & managed to stay at the crease only for four deliveries. Now, a power-striker “Shahrukh Khan” joined skipper, playing his first game of the season. Shahrukh played a fearless brand of cricket & hit some meaty blows. The pressure was released & now skipper Rahul took the charge & decided to go aggressive. After his couple of big-shots, while attempting to finish the game early, was hold out around the boundary ropes. Rahul after playing a captain’s knock of 67 was OUT !! Knights Elated — Kings Shocked !!
Well -Well-Well…..this was a tricky situation. Memories of past losses were haunting the Kings once again. What we saw next was — Fabian Allen came out with the limping leg & he was the very last one from whom Kings had any expectations. We’re about to see another thrilling finish to the game. The very next ball, Shahrukh hits a monster & Kings manage to get over the line just in time. Punjab Kings won by 05 wickets. PBKS — 168/5 (19.3 Overs)
Loop Holes…..In Morgan’s Captaincy
Eoin Morgan — the skipper of Kolkata Knight Riders, made some blunders. First of all, very poor team changes. In this match, there was only one proper death bowler specialist — Tim Southee. Morgan was left with no complete bowlers in the death overs & you’re asking, young lads — “Shivam Mavi” to bowl the penultimate 19th over of the innings & your opening batsman — “Vyankatesh Iyer” to bowl the 20th & defend the total. Sorry !! There’s something really wrong !! Complete absence of common sense & planning. Thoroughly disappointing captaincy !!
Final Verdict…
Punjab Kings with this win, is still in the contention for the playoffs. Now Kings moved to fifth position in the points table,pushing Rajasthan Royals & Mumbai Indians down. The loss for purple army has not damaged their position in the points table. But the problem is,now they have to depend on other teams for their qualification in playoffs.
If all the permutation & combinations every day didn’t went well then anything can happen. As we’re heading to the business end of the league, competition is going to be fierce and there’s a possibility that results of two teams will eliminate the third team. Situation is equally tensed for both the teams,now !!
FINAL SCORE-LINE: →
KKR — 165/7 (20.0 Overs) || PBKS — 168/5 (19.3 Overs)
Player of The Match — “K.L.Rahul”
I Write: Saksham
