Images from the Indian Premier League match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings, in Dubai, on Friday.
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Venkatesh Iyer hit a fluent 67 and Nitish Rana a fiery 31 off 18 balls before Punjab Kings pulled things back to restrict Kolkata Knight Riders to 165 for 7 in the Indian Premier League match, in Dubai, on Friday.
Put in to bat, the in-form Knight riders dictated the proceedings for a major part of their innings, as Iyer blazed away from the start, and looked set for a huge total, before excellent death overs’ bowling by Mohammed Shami (1 for 23) and Arshdeep Singh (3 for 32) checked the flow of runs.
Iyer and Tripathi (34 off 26 balls) raised a 72-run stand, stroking the ball around easily while Rana produced a nice cameo after their exit.
Left-arm pacer Arshdeep has been a top performer for the Punjab side this season and he delivered again by cleaning up Shubhman Gill (7) with a peach of delivery that breached the defence of the batsman in the third over.
Iyer, who has been a revelation this season, continued his good run with some fluent drives on both sides of the wicket despite the ball stopping a bit before coming on to the bat.
The batsmen’s positive approach and lack of control over the line by the Punjab pacers meant that Kolkata’s run-rate kept soaring.
The partnership was finally broken by spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who had Tripathi caught in the deep.
The leg-spinner was also economical, with figures of 2 for 22 in four overs.
Iyer completed his fifty with a single off Fabian Allen and then lofted the West Indian bowler for a six to raise team’s hundred in the 13th over.
Two quick wickets fell as Bishnoi got rid of Iyer, who went for a big shot, and Shami trapped Eoin Morgan (2), the rival skipper shuffling a bit towards the off side and missing the line of a dipping delivery and trapping him leg before wicket.
The Punjab Kings bowlers did well in the last two overs, allowing KKR 14 runs.
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