Gayle fires Punjab past Kolkata
A blistering Chris Gayle half-century fired Kings XI Punjab to an eight-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Ridersi in Sharjah on Monday, taking them one spot over their opponents to fourth in the Indian Premier League table.
Opener Shubman Gill (57 off 45 balls) and skipper Eoin Morgan (25-ball 40) formed the backbone of Kolkata's 149 for nine after being asked to bat first.
Kolkata were at one stage three down with 10 runs on the board as pacer Mohammad Shami and part-time off-spinner Glenn Maxwell, who opened the bowling, got among the wickets.
Morgan and Gill then shared in a 61-run fourth-wicket stand, but just when it seemed Kolkata had recovered from a poor start, they lost four quick wickets, falling from 91 for three to 114 for seven by the 16th over.
Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi and Chris Jordan were the Punjab bowlers who caused this crucial collapse.
Gill was eighth out with the score on 136 when he was caught off Shami, and Kolkata reached 149 courtesy of 24 off 13 balls from Lockie Ferguson.
Punjab were not threatened much in the chase as opener Mandeep Singh hit an unbeaten 66 off 56 balls, but Universe Boss Chris Gayle stole the show with 51 off 29 balls, with two fours and five sixes,
Gayle fell in the 19th over with two runs to get, which Nicholas Pooran knocked off with seven balls left in the game.
The win, Punjab's sixth in 12 games, put them above Kolkata -- who has the same amount of wins from 12 games -- in fourth place by virtue of a superior net run rate.
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