IPL 2020: Match 24 – KXIP vs KKR – Who Said What

The 24th match of the Indian Premier League saw action between Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders. KXIP needed two points in their bag anyhow but they remained unsuccessful as they lost the nail-biting contest by two runs. Batting first, KKR posted a decent 164/6 on the board as young Shubman Gill and skipper Dinesh Karthik remained splendid by scoring 57 off 47 and 58 off 29 respectively.

Dinesh Karthik was named as the player of the match for his match-winning knock. Brief innings by Eoin Morgan (24 off 23) remained successful in pushing the team towards a respectable score. Arshdeep Singh and Ravi Bishnoi remained effective from Punjab’s bowling unit as they conceded just 25 runs and picked one wicket each.

Sunil Narine turned game for KKR

Chasing the target in Abu Dhabi, the famous opening pair of KXIP did too much for the team but fell two runs short of the target. KL Rahul (74 off 58) and Mayank Agarwal (56 off 39) had a great day before KKR clinched the match during the last few overs. Sunil Narine and Prasidh Krishna remained phenomenal with the ball from Kolkata’s end as both saved the match during the last few overs for their team

Losing skipper, KL Rahul said

I have no answers. We just need to keep coming harder in the next seven games. We bowled really really well. This was a fresh strip so we didn’t know what were good lines and lengths. And the bowlers adjusted really well. And they were brave at the death too. Don’t think we were satisfied at any stage in the chase. You are satisfied only when you win the game. Towards the end, we kept losing wickets, and couldn’t get us over the line.

Winning skipper and Player of the match, Dinesh Karthik said

The way Rahul and Mayank batted, we thught we needed to so something really special to come back into the game. With Sunny and Varun there, and Prasidh bowling the way he has done in his first game… McCullum has been encouraging me to bat higher in the order, but I am looking at what the team needs. I have to give him credit for keeping me in this space. Whenever Russell gets injured, you know it is hard.

He is a very special player, he is a very special person. We need to go and look at him. Prasidh is special. The way he came back and bowled in the second spell shows how good he is. Sunil Narine stands up for us a lot of time. He is calm. He is always looking to find the best way to contribute to the team. Not only Sunil, a lot of credit needs to be given to Morgan and McCullum. I am very lucky to have the world’s best captain by results in my side.