Gayle, Rahul launch Kings XI to the top
The two openers smashed fifties in a revised chase of 125 off 13 overs to crush Kolkata Knight Riders
The two openers smashed fifties in a revised chase of 125 off 13 overs to crush Kolkata Knight Riders
Scorer: M Venkat Raghav | Commentator: Sreshth Shah
That's all from the Eden Gardens tonight. We're already half-way through the first innings of the evening game in Bengaluru, so why don't you head over there? Match report, reactions, all to come as the evening progresses. On behalf of the ESPNcricinfo crew, this is Sreshth Shah, signing off.
8.30pm Chris Gayle hugs Mayank Agarwal as the visitors win for the first time in their last six attempts at the Eden. They'll finish Saturday as table-toppers of the IPL. It was that momentum at the end of KKR's innings, where they only scored 45 off the last five overs, that set the tone for Kings XI's chase when they came to bat. Rahul and Gayle smacked the ball to all parts, and finished as deserving winners. The hosts' bowling seemed all over the place. Presentation soon.
KL Rahul, Man of the Match: "I don't know what's happening, but I don't want to question what's going well for me. The approach is to stay aggressive and take the opposition down. The simpler you keep it, the clearer you will be as a batsman. Don't want to complicate my batting, see ball hit ball. I back my shots, and just want to get into shape. Feet's moving well and I'm striking well. Just want to make sure I make it big. Have gotten out after getting starts. Me and Chris have spoken - we're gonna back our games. If he's going for it, doesn't mean I take the back seat."
R Ashwin, the winning captain: "Happier with this win, compared to the previous one. The par score was about 210. We had a time-out, and I told the boys we should try and restrict to 190. KL looked like a million dollars, and well, Chris is Chris. Sometimes when you're going hammer and tongs, it's important to get some perspective in the chase. One side was a which shorter, so we opted to have AJ Tye for the 20th over. But we don't plan for wickets, we plan to make the batsmen uncomfortable and that force the wicket. It's a very hard week coming up."
Aniket: "I think kkr shouldnt be much disappointed with this loss...might be tactical errors of not starting with a spinner at one end to root off the nervous gayle in the beginning ..."
Pranav : "Explosive Rahul & Sensible Gayle. No the adjective isn't misplaced."
8.28pm Narine, the purple cap holder: "Bowling is coming along. It was going to be pretty easy for Kings XI after the rain break. Gayle and Rahul showed how good they are."
Chris Gayle, the orange cap holder: "good to be among the runs. Doesn't matter about the orange cap, I think Rahul deserves it. To be honest, I didn't strike it really well, but when you have a momentum going, you need to capitalise."
Dikshit Chhabra: "Tom currans economy reads as 36. What will be his smart economy ;) "
Prasanth Ajithk: "Tye should get the MoM award... but, I know, it's a Batman's world, right?"
Draqib: "Surely, Kl rahul is the Luke Ronchi of IPL, literally destroying every bowling lineup."
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The two openers smashed fifties in a revised chase of 125 off 13 overs to crush Kolkata Knight Riders