Kolkata Knight Riders ended a four-match losing streak in IPL 2021 with a 5-wicket victory over Punjab Kings, thanks to a change in venue. Kolkata revived their season with an improved all-around performance in their first match of the season at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Kolkata Knight Riders won their season opener in Chennai against Sunrisers Hyderabad but then went on to lose four consecutive games, including two in Chepauk and two in Mumbai. Eoin Morgan’s men rose to the occasion to outclass Punjab Kings at the new venue, just when their campaign was slipping away.
Kolkata Knight Riders got off to a bad start on Monday, chasing a below-par total of 124, with their top-order struggling once again. Though Nitish Rana was dismissed for zero runs, Shubman Gill’s bad luck continued as he was caught LBW by Mohammed Shami for nine runs. The experiment to move Sunil Narine up the order stumbled once more, as the West Indies star was dismissed for 0 after Ravi Bishnoi took the ‘catch of IPL 2021.’
In the powerplay, Kolkata Knight Riders were struggling at 17 for 3, but captain Eoin Morgan and Rahul Tripathi responded with a counter-attacking batting display. They re-instilled pressure on Punjab Kings, who had nothing to defend on Monday evening.
