IPL 2018: Preity Zinta cheers her boys after the defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders

The Kings XI Punjab started the IPL 2018 well but have stuttered since then. The franchise seems to be overdependent on KL Rahul and Andrew Tye as these two have been the standout performers for Ashwin and co. But cricket is a team game and collective performance is more important in achieving results.

As the tournament gets to the business end, teams are finding themselves in situations where they need to win all their remaining games. As the Kings XI Punjab started the IPL with several wins they can afford a few slip ups here and there. On Saturday, KXIP were all set to face KKR and needed a collective effort to take the team over the line. However, the KKR batsmen made merry and scored 245 runs to snatch the game away from the hosts. Preity Zinta, co-owner of KXIP, cheered up her boys after their 31-run defeat.

Not a one-sided affair

She tweeted: “Well played KKR. It was always tough to beat 245 but I’m very proud of the way the #kxip boys fought back.” Rahul seemed to be the lone warrior for the team as he hung in the middle for quite some time but in a run chase where you require 245 runs, you need more that one player to step up and take responsibility and unfortunately KXIP were unable to do that.

Well played KKR ?It was always tough to beat 245 but I’m very proud of the way the #kxip boys fought back ?@lionsdenkxip #redforever #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi #Movingon #KXIPvRR #Vivoipl2018

— Preity zinta (@realpreityzinta) May 12, 2018

Opener Sunil Narine blasted a 36-ball 75 while skipper Dinesh Karthik made fifty to take KKR to their highest ever total in IPL. In reply, KXIP scored 214 runs and ensured that the NRR doesn’t drop too much. KKR would surely have expected a better performance with the ball but they will take this win with both hands. They need to perform in similar fashion in their remaining games as the race to playoffs is getting tense day by day. On the other hand, the Kings XI Punjab have suffered back to back defeated and need to take inspiration from their previous games to regain the winning momentum.

Stay updated on ‘today’s cricket news‘ with CricTracker.com