Quickfire fifties from openers Gayle and KL Rahul help Punjab beat hosts Kolkata in rain-interrupted T20 2018 match
Punjab's Chris Gayle en route his 38-ball 62 against Kolkata at Eden Gardens on Saturday. Pic/AFP
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When Shivan Mavi, the 'surprise' Kolkata threw at Chris Gayle, beat the big Jamaican thrice in-a-row, a packed Eden Gardens sat up. But the hopes died young.
Having posted a challenging 191-7, Kolkata saw Punjab race to 96 without loss before a sharp shower interrupted the innings in the ninth over with Gayle just warming up to the task with four sixes and five fours.
Punjab's KL Rahul celebrates his 50 against Kolkata on Saturday. Pic/PTI
Revised target
When play resumed, 94 minutes later, the visitors were left to score 29 off 28 under the Duckworth-Lewis revised target. They won by nine wickets with 11 deliveries to spare, the big Jamaican wrapping it up by sending Tom Curran's first ball over his head for a six – his sixth of the evening. The burly Jamaican was unbeaten on a 38-ball 62. But, then, it wasn't entirely a Gayle story on Saturday.
KL Rahul comes to party
KL Rahul, who had hit T20 2018's fastest fifty against Delhi recently, came away with a 27-ball 60, often upstaging his opening partner as he hit nine fours and two sixes.
Earlier, Chris Lynn came into his own, hitting four sixes and six boundaries in a 41-ball 74 for Kolkata with skipper Dinesh Karthik and deputy Robin Uthappa playing significant supporting roles. Put into bat, the second-wicket partnership between Lynn and Uthappa yielded 72 off just 41 balls after opener Sunil Narine (1) was dismissed early. When Uthappa departed with a 23-ball 34 and the in-form Nitish Rana (3) run himself out cheaply, Lynn and Karthik added 62 in 34 balls for the fourth wicket to set up the platform for the final launch. But it didn't quite arrive.
Karun Nair pulled off a fine catch, his third of the afternoon, as Andre Russell (10) failed to clear the long-off boundary just as he was beginning to warm up to the task. Karthik himself departed soon after a 28-ball 43. With four wickets falling in the final five overs, Kolkata were pegged back and fell well short of the target they looked headed for.
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