Chris Lynn's brilliant 84 went in vain as Kings XI Punjab produced a clinical bowling and fielding show under pressure to beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 14 runs in a tense IPL match and keep themselves afloat in the tournament here today.
Needing a win today to keep their play-offs hopes alive, KXIP could put up just 167 for 6 after being put into bat but they defended the total courtesy a remarkable show by their bowlers at the PCA Stadium.
The home side restricted KKR to 153 for 6 to win the match. They still remain at fifth with 12 points from 12 matches and they can make it to the knock-out stage if they win their remaining two matches.
KKR, who have already booked a play-offs berth, also remained at second spot with 16 points from 13 matches.
The pick of the KXIP bowlers was Rahul Tewatia who took 2 wickets for 18 runs from his 4 overs while Mohit Sharma got 2/24 from 3 overs. Sandeep Sharma did not take a wicket but conceded just 31 runs from his four overs.
Earlier, Glenn Mexwell hit a quickfire 25-ball 44 as Kings XI Punjab scored 167 for 6 after being put into bat. They made a wobbly start but made a late recovery to put up a respectable total at the PCA Stadium here.
From 63 for 3 at the halfway mark, Kings XI took 104 runs from the final 10 overs.
Kings XI lost wickets at regular intervals as they failed to stitch any big partnership. Their highest partnership was the 61 for the fourth wicket between Maxwell and Wriddhiman Saha (38).
Maxwell, Saha and Manan Vohra (25) got the starts but could not convert them to big scores.
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