Picture Credit: Twitter
The 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has picked its pace as the tournament went into its eighth match on Friday evening. Kolkata Knight Rides (KKR) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) are locking horns at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. After winning the toss, Shreyas Iyer opted to field first and his decision was proved right by Umesh Yadav as the veteran pacer removed the opposition captain in the very first over of the match.
However, Agarwal's dismissal brought a storm in the form of Bhanuka Rajapaksa to the middle The southpaw known for his lusty blows showed no mercy at the KKR bowlers as he opened his account with a boundary against Tim Southee. His next target became young pacer Shivam Mavi. The batter started Mavi's over with a boundary.
He then hit three consecutive sixes in different parts of the ground leaving the bowlers in sweats. But Mavi had the last laugh as he dismissed Rajapaksa on the very next delivery. Mavi bowled a short-pitch delivery from around the wicket to cramp the batter for any room and he succeeded. Rajapaksa could not get the timing right and handed a dolly to Southee at mid-off.
Watch the wicket here:
KKR bowlers shine!
Now coming to the KKR bowlers' performance against Punjab on Friday evening, it was complete dominance from Umesh Yadav. The veteran pacer finished the innings with a figure of 4-1-23-4. Yadav took his first wicket in the very first over the match by dismissing Punjab captain Mayank Agarwal. He then removed Liam Livingstone. Yadav returned in his second spell to dismiss Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar to complete his 4-fer.
Meanwhile, KKR's other bowlers also did well to complement Yadav. Tim Southee took two wickets at the expense of 36 runs in his four overs. Shivam Mavi was expensive, but he dismissed the dangerous Rajapaksa. It was the spinners who kept the pressure intact with their tight spells. While Narine finished the innings with 4-023-1, Chakravarthy gave only 14 runs in his four overs. On the back of a strong performance from their bowlers, KKR were able to bowl Punjab out for a mere 137.