IPL 2020, KXIP record fifth consecutive win: records broken
A century stand by Mandeep Singh and Chris Gayle powered Kings XI Punjab to an eight-wicket victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders in match number 46th of IPL 2020. The former played an emphatic knock and paid tribute to his father upon reaching his fifty. Notably, this was a fifth consecutive win this season for KXIP. Here are the records broken.
The KXIP claimed early breakthroughs as skipper KL Rahul invited KKR to bat in the game. However, KKR opener Shubman Gill (57) emerged as the lone warrior until Eoin Morgan (40) arrived in the middle. At the end, Lockie Ferguson's unbeaten 24 guided them to 149/9. In reply, the likes of Mandeep and Gayle powered them to a one-sided victory.
Chasing 150, KXIP lost their skipper Rahul early on, however, Mandeep kept the scoreboard ticking. Mandeep, whose father passed away a few days ago, went on to slam his seventh IPL fifty. This was also his first fifty after the 2017 season. Joining him was Universe Boss Chris Gayle, who raced to his 30th half-century in the tournament (51).
The KKR top-order yet again collapsed with opener Nitish Rana departing for a golden duck. However, his compatriot Gill continued to hold one end and fired a 45-ball 57, a knock that comprised 4 sixes and 3 fours. This was his seventh IPL fifty and third in the ongoing season. He also improved his strike-rate, having finished with 126.67.
Only three players from KKR were able to reach double figures during their innings (Gill: 57, Eoin Morgan: 40 and Lockie Ferguson: 24). The rest eight batsmen could muster a total of 24 runs as KKR aggregated 149.
Morgan joined Shubman in the middle as others perished. He shared an 81-run stand with the latter, bringing back the momentum. Eventually, Morgan racked up 40 (25) and departed with a strike-rate of 160.00. It is interesting to note that Morgan now has most runs this season without scoring a fifty. He (335) is followed by Rishabh Pant (217) and MS Dhoni (199).
Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi emerged as the most economical bowler for KXIP. He scalped two wickets and gave away mere 20 runs. However, he has now conceded 15 sixes in the IPL 2020, third-most after Ravindra Jadeja (17), Jofra Archer (16) and Shreyas Gopal (16).
