Mandeep Singh, Chris Gayle, and Mohammed Shami star as Kings XI climb to fourth
They hunted down 150 with eight wickets to spare, pushing KKR to fifth
They hunted down 150 with eight wickets to spare, pushing KKR to fifth
Scorer: Chandan Duorah | Commentator: Sidharth Monga
Happy and emotional scenes from around the KXIP camp. A lot to ponder for KKR. Nothing is sure with that points table yet. We will see you tomorrow with more mayhem
Chris Gayle, Man of the Match: "Been training off the field when not playing. Doing my runs. Gym. Feeling good. Have a good feeling about myself and the team. Just capitalising on it, but still a long way to go. We had two very good spinners, we had to make a quick adjustment. Quickly assess what they were doing. And once you get going, you ease the pressure off Mandeep as well. Sunil has got me out so many times. He is the best spinner in the world. So when you get a wicket like this, when it is not turning much, you got to cash in. Mandeep is going through a lot. Last game we said wew ant to win it for him. So beautiful to watch him in the middle pointing out to his father watching from above. And dad, my dad, I love you. Today the coach asked the senior players, we need to step up in crucial games, I am glad we were able to put my hand up. And the youngsters in the team are telling me, 'Don't retire.'"
KL Rahul: "I am very happy. The whole team will be. we collectively decided to go out there and play positive cricket, and things can turn around. It is different persons putting their hand up at different times. Just happy that everything is coming together. Fingers crossed that we can win a few more games. The kind of toughness Mandeep has shown has rubbed on to other ways. Everybody is emotional. Just to put his hand up, just to be there, just to finish off the game, makes us so proud. When we have Anil Kumble as coach, it is no surprise we are playing two legspinners. He always had that in mind. He has worked really really hard on them. And not just on them, but also those who haven't played yet. Complete team effort, and a lot of credit should go to the coaches. Chris, it was a very hard decision not to play him, He is the hungriest I have seen in the last seven-eight years playing for different franchises. Running ones and twos. And you know how he keeps the dressing room upbeat. To do it over and over again, year after year... We will enjoy tonight's victory, enjoy tomorrow, and then start thinking about the next game. One game at a time."
Mandeep Singh: "This was very special. My father always used to tell me you should remain not out in the game. This one is for him. Even if I scored a double hundred or a hundred, he used to ask me, 'Why did you go out?'. My role was to score quicker, but I wasn't comfortable doing it. So I told Rahul if I play my natural game, I can see this through. So he was okay with me taking my time and he went after the bowling. I just told Chris he should never retire. He is the World Boss. He is too good."
Eoin Morgan: "Particularly here in Sharjah you have to counterattack if you lose wickets early. Disappointing our partnership couldn't get more. When we were three down, it was about getting a partnership. We thought 185-190 would have kept us in the game, wouldn't have been a match-winning total by any stretch. But we kept losing wickets. That's the nature of the tournament. There aren't many bad sides. Going into the last two, our fate is in our hands. If we win those two, we should be in a reasonably good position."
No jitters, no late nerves. KXIP are now No. 4 on the table. Everybody congratulates and consoles Mandeep Singh. He lost his father three days ago, but he has stayed back, and has got his chances because of an injury to Mayank Agarwal. Overall, a clinical game for KXIP. The seam bowling from Shami with the new ball, the legspinners' comeback after they were attacked, and then the Gayle assault when they were under pressure in the chase. Gayle and Pooran are an accidentally discovered combination that is throwing teams into disarray in the middle overs
In comes another madhatter, Nicholas Pooran. These two have thrown the best-laid plans into the bin
CH Gayle c Prasidh Krishna b Ferguson 51 (29b 2x4 5x6) SR: 175.86
Gayle to finish it off in one shot?
Hundred runs for the stand
Do you come out of the gates swinging, or take your time to soak the pressure?
They hunted down 150 with eight wickets to spare, pushing KKR to fifth
Also, is Chris Gayle at No. 3 working? Oh yes, and here's why
ESPNcricinfo's updates from the 46th match of IPL 2020
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