Photographs: BCCI
Kings XI Punjab inflicted a shock defeat on defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders by four runs in a thrilling Pepsi Indian Premier League encounter in Mohali on Tuesday.
This is Kings XI's second win from four matches while KKR's woeful away record continued as they have now lost their third game on the road.
Chasing a decent target of 158 KKR managed only 153 for nine in their stipulated 20 overs.
Vindicating skipper Gautam Gambhir's decision to field first, Sunil Narine (3-33) along with Sri Lankan Sachitra Senanayake (2-28) bamboozled the Kings XI batsmen with their variations.
Kings XI captain Adam Gilchrist's (7) woeful form in the current edition continued as Senanayake trapped him leg before with a straighter one in his very first over, which was the fourth of the innings. The score was 24 at that time.
Mandeep Singh made 41
Image: Mandeep Singh of the Kings XI PunjabPhotographs: BCCI
Mandeep Singh (41, 30 balls 6x4) and young Manan Vohra (17), however, negotiated the KKR bowlers confidently.
They added 37 runs for the second wicket before both were out in quick succession.
Kallis achieved 50 IPL wickets
Image: Jacques Kallis of Kolkata Knight RidersPhotographs: BCCI
Jacques Kallis excelled with the ball, picking up figures of three for 24.
The South African helped himself with the wickets of Mandeep Singh (41), Manpreet Gony (42) and Praveen Kumar (1).
Gony's was Kallis' 50th IPL wicket, yet another landmark in his illustrious career.
Narine took a hat-trick
Image: Kolkata Knight Riders player Sunil Narine is congratulated by teammates after his hat-trickPhotographs: BCCI
Sunil Narine took the first hat-trick of the current edition.
Narine achieved the landmark with his last three deliveries of the 15th over of the innings before Gony (42) thrashed the West Indian for 23 runs in the penultimate over to bring home team back in the match.
However, Narine's three wickets took his tournament tally to 10, thereby helping him take over the purple cap.
Gony top-scored with 42
Image: Manpreet Gony of Kings XI PunjabPhotographs: BCCI
Manpreet Gony top-scored for the home team with 42.
Gony came in with Kings XI tottering at 99 for six and it soon became 109 for seven with David Miller (20) back in the dug-out.
However, the big-bodied Gony unleashed some booming shots as KKR bowlers went for 41 runs in 3.1 overs.
The former India pacer hit four boundaries and three huge sixes including two fours and two sixes in Narine's final over.
Later, he removed a set Gambhir to bring KKR back in the match and also bowled consistently during his four-over spell.
Gony, playing his first game of the cash-rich league certainly made a big impact in the final outcome of the encounter. He was expectedly named the man-of-the-match.
Gambhir led from the front again
Image: Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir pulls a delivery to the boundaryPhotographs: BCCI
Gautam Gambhir again led from the front, top scoring with 60.
The left-hander's 39-ball innings was inclusive of nine hits to the fence.
However, his dismissal at a crucial juncture left his team in a lurch.
Mahmood picked up three wickets
Image: Kings XI Punjab player Azhar MahmoodPhotographs: BCCI
Azhar Mahmood was the best bowler for Punjab.
The veteran had figures of three for 21 in four economical overs.
Among the Pakistan-born Englishman's wickets were Jacques Kallis (1), Eoin Morgan (47) and Debabrata Das (1).
Morgan made a valiant 47
Image: Eoin Morgan of Kolkata Knight RidersPhotographs: BCCI
Eoin Morgan made a valiant 47.
The Irish-born player's 38-ball knock was inclusive of six hits to the fence.
He also helped put on 105 runs for the third wicket with his captain Gambhir (60).
However, he was also dismissed at a crucial juncture.
Praveen Kumar bowled a good last over
Image: Kings XI Punjab player Praveen KumarPhotographs: BCCI
Needing 11 runs off the final over, Adam Gilchrist saved what would have been 5 wides of the first delivery from Praveen Kumar.
Praveen (2-26) kept his cool as he first removed Yusuf out of the equation and gave away only six runs to bring cheer for the home team.
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