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The eighth match of the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is underway at the Wankhede Stadium between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings. Shreyas Iyer decided to bowl first after calling it right at the flip of the coin and his bowlers didn't let his captain down. Umesh Yadav opened the floodgates by removing Mayank Agarwal right in the first over of the match.
After that, Shivam Mavi dismissed the dangerous-looking Bhanuka Rajapaksa after receiving some belting from the batter. It was then Southee who removed experienced Shikhar Dhawan. After the experienced campaigner was dismissed, Punjab batters did not look settled at all. The spinners also troubled PBKS batters. But the biggest highlight of the game, apart from Umesh Yadav's four-wicket haul, was Tim Southee's brilliant catch to dismiss Kagiso Rabada who was looking to add some quick runs for Punjab.
On the first delivery of the 19th over, Andre Russell bowled a good length delivery which Rabada tried to take on. However, he lost control and could not time the ball well enough but with some sheer power behind the shot, the ball went up high in the air. With fielders spread out, it looked like Rabad will get away. But Tim Southee had some other plans.
The lanky pacer, who was placed at long-on, covered a significant amount of ground to reach the 30-yard circle and dived forward to grab the ball cleanly.
Watch Southee's acrobatic effort here:
KKR restrict Punjab to 138
On the back of some fine bowling from Umesh Yadav and good efforts in the field, KKR restricted Punjab to a mere 138. While Yadav took the charge with his 4-wicket haul, Tim Southee complimented him with two big wickets of Shikhar Dhawan and Shahrukh Khan. The spinners also played their part really well as the duo of Narine and Chakravarthy conceded only 37 runs in their 8 overs.