Punjab lock horns with Kolkata as battle for top four spots hots up

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

A resurgent Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and a confident Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are set to meet in a mid-table blockbuster Indian Premier League (IPL) clash on Monday.

Punjab staged a miraculous turnaround after a lacklustre start to the campaign to move to the fifth spot behind Kolkata, who have 12 points.

Punjab’s renaissance has taken everyone by surprise as they emerged from perennial make-weights to one of the top title contenders with four wins on the trot.

After a topsy-turvy first half of the tournament, the race for the play-offs seems to have heated up with four teams fighting for the top four spot.

In their relentless march to reach the middle of the table from the bottom of the standings, Punjab have slayed all the top teams like Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

Punjab pulled off an improbable come-from-behind win against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Defending the paltry total of 126, Punjab restricted Hyderabad to 115. David Warner and Jonny Bairstow had added 56 runs for the first wicket before a dramatic collapse saw Hyderabad losing ten wickets for 58 runs, seven of them for just 15 runs as Arshdeep Singh and Chris Jordan bowled superb overs in the end to fetch them the fourth straight victory.

They also defeated Mumbai in a double Super Over match after the first one failed to decide the fate of the match.

Their strength has been their batting with captain KL Rahul holding the orange cap from the beginning of the match. He has amassed over 500 runs with the help of one century and five fifties.

He is followed by Mayank Agarwal closely, who has also scored 398 runs with a century and two fifties in ten matches.

The inclusion of West Indian swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle has bolstered their middle order. Nicholas Pooran can also play some big shots down the order to spur the run rate.

In bowling, Mohammad Shami has been in outstanding form. He is the second highest wicket-taker in the tournament after Kagiso Rabada.

On the other hand, Kolkata are one step closer to the qualification with two more points than their opponents. But they have been highly unpredictable.

They are seeking a turnaround in fortunes with the change in leadership.

Kolkata posted a huge total of 194 against a formidable bowling of Delhi Capitals before being bundled out for a paltry 84 against Bangalore prior to that match.

Their batting revolves around Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine and Eoin Morgan. But with Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Rana chipping useful contributions in a couple of matches, it certainly will take the pressure off the frontline batsmen.

Narine was reported for suspect bowling action and could not play in two matches before being included in the squad for the Delhi clash, in which he scored a blitzkrieg 64 off 32.

Mystery spinners Varun Chakravarthy became the first bowler to take a five-wicket haul against Delhi in this edition of the IPL.

He is well supported by Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Prasidh Krishna. The pace duo of Locki Ferguson and Pat Cummins can rip through any batting line-up on a given day.

Squads:
Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul (Captain), Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel, Mandeep Singh, James Neesham, Tajinder Singh, Chris Jordan, Karun Nair, Deepak Hooda, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sarfaraz Khan, Sheldon Cottrell, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Shami, Darshan Nalkande, Nicholas Pooran, Chris Gayle

Kolkata Knight Riders: Eoin Morgan (Captain), Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Tom Banton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrior, Shivam Mavi, Chris Green