Young batsman Shubman Gill showed maturity beyond his years as Kolkata Knight Riders knocked out Kings XI Punjab by seven wickets on Friday to stay afloat in the Indian Premier League playoff race.
Chasing a steep target of 184, the 19-year-old showed his range on his home turf with an attractive 65 not out off 49 balls, anchoring the chase after Chris Lynn (46 off 22 balls) set the pace with some big hits in the powerplay overs.
KKR reached the target in just 18 overs and improved their net run-rate as well. They now have 12 points with a must-win away game against Mumbai Indians left. Gill and Lynn added 62 in six overs before the Australian was dismissed having hit five fours and two sixes.
Robin Uthappa (22 from 14) also looked good but didn’t stay long enough. Andre Russell (24 off 14 balls) hit a couple of sixes during a 50-run stand in only 4.2 overs along with Gill to cut the chase short.
However Gill’s batting was a treat for the eyes as he literally toyed with KXIP skipper Ravichandran Ashwin hitting him for 18 runs in an over. There was a six over long on where he came down the track and another slog sweep behind square.
The half-century came with a deft late cut which prompted his happy father to break into a bhangra. In the end, skipper Dinesh Karthik (21 off 9 balls) finished the match with a flourish.
Earlier, Sam Curran and Nicholas Pooran displayed belligerence as Kings XI Punjab put on a respectable 183/6 against Kolkata Knight Riders after being put into bat.
While West Indies’ Pooran smashed 48 off 27 balls to give the innings initial impetus as he added 69 runs for the third wicket with Mayank Agarwal (36 off 26 balls). The Curran walloped KKR bowlers to smash an unbeaten 55 off 24 balls to take the score past 180-run mark.
For KKR, fast bowler Sandeep Warrier (2/31) was the most impressive as he removed the opening pair of Chris Gayle (14 off 14 balls) and KL Rahul (2 off 7 balls) in quick succession.
However, Pooran showed his big-hitting prowess, hitting four sixes apart from three boundaries and found an able partner in Agarwal. Pooran was unlucky to miss out on a fifty as he was holed out in the deep mid-wicket region trying to hit a Nitish Rana half-tracker for six.
Once Agarwal and later Mandeep Singh (25) got out, it seemed that KXIP will have to settle for less than 170 but Curran had other ideas as 32 runs came off the last two overs. In the 19th over, Curran hit Andre Russell for a couple of boundaries, before launching into compatriot Harry Gurney, hitting him for 22 runs – which included three fours and a big six – in the final over.