Kolkata XI vs Punjab XI 21st Match at Ahmedabad, 26 Apr, 2021

Toss: Kolkata, who chose to bowl
Punjab XI 123/9 (20)
Kolkata XI 126/5 (16.4)
Kolkata won by 5 wickets
Man of the Match: Eoin Morgan
  • Dinesh Karthik 12 * (6)
  • Eoin Morgan 47 * (40)

Over 14.2 R Bishnoi tossed up delivery to Dinesh Karthik, no run, comes on to the front foot and punches it straight back to the bowler.

Over 14.3 R Bishnoi tossed up delivery to Dinesh Karthik,1 run, gets forward and  nudges the googly wide of midwicket, some confusion but they get through for the single

Over 15.2 Deepak Hooda bowls it short of length to Eoin Morgan,1 run, goes for the cut again and chops it wide of point

Over 16.2 Arshdeep Singh bowls a pitched up delivery to Dinesh Karthik, Boundary! Comes onto the front foot and smashes it through mid-off and gets a boundary.

Over 16.3 Arshdeep Singh bowls it short of length to Dinesh Karthik, 2 runs, gets on top of the bounce and pulled away to deep mid-wicket and picks up a couple of runs.

Over 16.4 Arshdeep Singh bowls it short of length to Dinesh Karthik, Boundary! Rock back in the crease and nails the pull shot through midwicket this time to seal a comprehensive win.

Kolkata Knight Riders won by 5 wickets

KL Rahul (PBKS): It is never nice to be on the losing side. Don't know what to say. We should have adapted better. We could have applied lot more with the bat. Expect the boys to be smarter. Some soft dismissals have cost us the game. It was a bit two paced. Kept a little up down. Was tough to assess what are the high risk shots here. It is expected of good teams to adapt quicker. We need to keep our heads higher and keep trying. Bishnoi's catch was stunning, Especially when you have a coach like Jonty Rhodes. He puts us to tough tests and sees how every boy reacts. The training rubs on during match situations. Hopefully we can keep building and get better. 

KL Rahul (PBKS): It is never nice to be on the losing side. Don't know what to say. We should have adapted better. We could have applied lot more with the bat. Expect the boys to be smarter. Some soft dismissals have cost us the game. It was a bit two paced. Kept a little up down. Was tough to assess what are the high risk shots here. It is expected of good teams to adapt quicker. We need to keep our heads higher and keep trying. Bishnoi's catch was stunning, Especially when you have a coach like Jonty Rhodes. He puts us to tough tests and sees how every boy reacts. The training rubs on during match situations. Hopefully we can keep building and get better. 

Eoin Morgan (KKR) (Man of the Match): Wins haven't been easy to come by. Have worked incredibly hard. Today, along with a bit of luck, the performance was very impressive, particularly with the ball up front. When the wicket's like that - from the 12th over of our innings, the ball was sliding on. Only his second game this season (Mavi). The match-up against Gayle was favorable. He bowled well in the last game and started well here. For him to make an impact is a huge credit to him. The advantage we have over most spinners is that Our spinners are variation bowlers. They don't rely on drift and turn. They control their lengths well and rely on a tiny amount of turn and today they were exceptional. A lot of time to go in the tournament. Hopefully, today can kickstart something for us. Certainly think it's challenging and it does have to be managed for players, coaching staff. When you consider the horrific nature of what's happening outside the bubble. we try and lend our support and encouragement for everything that's going on not only in India but around the world. If you're going out stay safe wear a mask, social distance. We've seen first hand at home how devastating it can be. On behalf of KKR we wish everyone well.