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Punjab Kings ended their losing streak as they secured a convincing nine-wicket victory over the defending champions, Mumbai Indians. KL Rahul led his team past the finishing line with an unbeaten knock of 60 runs, which earned him the player of the match award. PBKS have won two of their five matches so far and are currently fifth in the points table.
The Riders are enduring a nightmare start to their IPL season. The two-time IPL champions have now lost four consecutive games and are languishing at the bottom of the points table. They lost their last game against Rajasthan Royals, who defeated them by 6 wickets. KKR’s top-order crumbled once again, as they could manage to score just 133 runs.
KKR started off their campaign with a win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, but have faced four heavy defeats ever since. Eoin Morgan’s men have lost to MI, RCB, Chennai Super Kings and RR so far.
The Kings have won their matches against the Royals and MI, whereas they have lost against the likes of CSK, Delhi Capitals and SRH. PBKS’ bowling attack was lethal against Mumbai Indians, as they kept the big-hitters at bay. Ravi Bishnoi played his first game of the season against the defending champions and picked up two wickets in his four over spell, conceding just 21 runs.
Shubman Gill and Eoin Morgan are struggling to score runs this season. Gill has managed to score just 80 runs so far, and he is certainly low on confidence. Morgan ran himself out for a duck without even facing a single ball against RR.
Key Players
KL Rahul won the Orange Cap last season, after scoring more than 600 runs. The PBKS batter has three half-centuries to his name already this season, having scored 221 runs at an average of 55.25. Rahul delivered a strong performance with the bat against Mumbai Indians, scoring an unbeaten knock of 60 runs, for which he was awarded the player of the match award. The PBKS skipper also scored a valuable knock of 91 runs against Rajasthan Royals in the first match, which helped his side put up a fighting total on the board.
Mohammed Shami has produced some stellar performances this season. The Indian pacer has picked up six wickets so far. Shami had two scalps to his name against Mumbai Indians, which includes a key wicket of Rohit Sharma. He returned figures of two wickets for 21 runs in his four-over spell, and will hope to continue with his good form. The 30-year old leads an inexperienced PBKS bowling lineup, and it is important for him to perform well.
Shubman Gill has failed to live up to his expectation so far this season. The Indian batsman has scored just 80 runs in his five games, and one gets the impression that he is trying too hard to score runs at the moment. Gill was dismissed for a golden duck against Chennai Super Kings, whereas he ran himself out for a score of just 11 runs against the Royals. Gill’s poor form at the top of the order has culminated in KKR’s lackluster starts at the top of the order.
Varun Chakravarthy has picked up six wickets so far and has been one of the standout bowlers for KKR this season. He picked up the key wicket of Virat Kohli last week after he had two scalps to his name against the Royals. After dismissing Shivam Dube, the spinner dismissed Jos Buttler for a score of just seven runs and brought back his side into the game. He is expected to benefit from the slow tracks in Narendra Modi Stadium, and should pick up more wickets this season.
Prediction
Punjab Kings will be the more confident of the two sides, heading into their clash against KKR. PBKS dominated MI in all three departments of the game and secured a convincing victory. More importantly, Chris Gayle regained his form against the defending champions after scoring an unbeaten knock of 43 runs off just 35 balls.
KKR are dealing with several issues now, as Eoin Morgan looks forward to finding his best eleven. They have failed to pick up wickets during crucial junctures of the game, as RCB scored over 200 runs against them, despite losing two early wickets in Chennai last week.
The Riders conceded over 220 runs against CSK Kings and ended up just 18 runs short of the total after some incredible performances from Andre Russell and Pat Cummins.
KKR have some world-class players in their squad, but they have failed to hit the ground running so far. They have failed to play together as a unit, which has seen them languishing at the bottom of the table.
