The spinning duo of Karanveer Singh and Akshar Patel shared five wickets between them to help Kings XI Punjab keep Kolkata Knight Riders to 163 for eight in their rescheduled first IPL qualifier at the Eden Gardens today.
Put into bat, KKR were 2/1 in 1.2 overs but Robin Uthappa and Pandey repaired the damage, putting on 65 runs in just 42 balls to turn their fortunes around.
Continuing his dream run, Uthappa slammed 42 from 30 balls with four boundaries and two sixes, while Pandey extended fine support with a 20-ball 21.
But before KKR could break loose, KXIP essayed a comeback through left-arm spinner Patel (2/11) and leg-spinner Singh (3/40) on a slow wicket that had remained under cover for three days due to incessant rain.
First it was Patel who gave the breakthrough claiming Uthappa and Pandey in his third over, before Singh struck twice in two balls dismissing the hard-hitting duo of Shakib Al Hasan (18) and Yusuf Pathan (20) to bring on the untested KKR lower middle-order.
When KKR were 113/5 in 15.4 overs, rain suspended play for 25 minutes and the field was brought under cover once again.
The blows did not hurt KKR's cause much as Surya Kumar Yadav struck a quick 20 from 14 balls (3x4, 1x6) while Ryan ten Doeschate slammed a 10-ball 17, which was studded with two sixes.
The match was originally scheduled at 8pm yesterday but had to be postponed to the reserve day today due to heavy downpour over the last three days. The winners will seal a final berth while the losing team will get another chance and play the second qualifier.
Mitchell Johnson gave an early breakthrough in the form of KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir when the left-hander pulled one for his KXIP counterpart Bailey to take a fine rising catch at mid-on.
The outfield looked slow and KKR's run-rate too was slower - 14/1 in the first three overs -- with the first boundary coming as late as in the 18th ball.
Before it could get any worse, Uthappa continued his dream run and took on Johnson, pulling the Aussie pace spearhead over deep square-leg for a six and followed it up with a boundary in an over that yielded 17 runs.
