Eden Gardens witnessed an absolute thriller of a game as the Kolkata Knight Riders foxed the Kings XI Punjab by just 7 runs. With 6 wins in 9 games, the Knight Riders have climbed to the top of the points tally and are barely a couple of wins away from securing their playoff berth.
For the Knight Riders, it was once again the heroics of Andre Russell which did the trick. The Jamaican was fabulous with the ball as his strikes at the top of the order dented the Kings XI run chase. Despite a fine half century from Glenn Maxwell, the visitors fell short by 7 runs. Earlier, Gautam Gambhir continued his fluent run as he registered yet another half century. Gambhir was once again flawless as he provided the Knight Riders off to a solid start.
In the post match presentation, Gambhir lauded his side but said that he wouldn’t take any game for granted. “We are used to this wicket. The way we have batted is very professional. I still thought we were 10 runs short but the ball did slow a bit in the second innings. From here on, we must get used to it and get better. The wickets up front were very important. The middle order has been in decent form and hopefully they can take some pressure off us. Last year’s experience was a big learning for us. We are not taking any game for granted,” said Gambhir.
Andre Russell was named the Man of the Match and he said, “I love playing here. It’s been amazing. We know how important this game is. We didn’t get enough on the board but we came back and bowled like champions. We proved ourselves and that’s what a good team is all about. We were trying to get to 180, but credit to their bowlers, they did well during death overs. 164 was very defendable and once we know we can create pressure we can get wickets. We have a few days off, We gonna rest and make sure we are ready for the next game,” said Russell.