Sam Curran notched up his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) half-century as Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) posted a competitive 183/6 in 20 overs against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in a crunch encounter at the PCA I.S. Bindra Stadium here on Friday.
Curran, who did not play the last couple of matches, came in to bat when Kings XI were 140/4 after 13.3 overs, having lost Mayank Agarwal (36; 26 balls, 4x2, 6x1) and, more importantly, Nicholas Pooran (48; 27 balls, 4x3, 6x4) in quick succession.
The England all-rounder smashed an unbeaten 24-ball 55 with the help of seven fours and two sixes as Kings XI plundered 58 runs in the last five overs.
Curran made the most of a reprieve after he was dropped on 17 by Rinku Singh off Sunil Narine, hitting Harry Gurney for 22 runs in the final over, including three fours and a six off the last four deliveries.
Earlier, Pooran had set the platform with a brilliant knock as he shared 69 runs for for the third wicket with Agarwal.
Sandeep Warrier (2/31) jolted Kings XI early, accounting for both of their top-performing batsmen K.L. Rahul (2) and Chris Gayle (14). Rahul was the first to go with Chris Lynn taking his catch at mid-on after the India batsman tried to clear the infield.
Warrier then set Gayle up with a short ball which the veteran West Indies opener failed to negotiate, hitting straight to backward square-leg where Shubman Gill took an easy catch.
Kings XI were in some sort of trouble at 41/2 after the powerplay overs. This is when Pooran came to the party, taking the likes of Piyush Chawla, who had a forgettable day, to the cleaners by scoring at a brisk rate.
The hosts were 84/2 at the halfway stage with Pooran going great guns, and KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik failing to stop him even with spinners operating from both ends.
This is when Karthik introduced Nitish Rana into the attack and the move worked as Pooran holed out to Sandeep Warrier at deep mid-wicket, bringing his knock to an abrupt end.
Kings XI Struggled to get going after Pooran's dismissal but once Curran got going, there was no looking back even after Gurney bowled a brilliant 18th over to leak just four runs and take a wicket.
Brief scores
Kings XI Punjab: 183/6 (Sam Curran 55 not out, Nicholas Pooran 48; Sandeep Warrier 2/31) vs Kolkata Knight Riders
--IANS
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