There have been 25 KKR vs KXIP matches in the IPL. (File Photo/BCCI)
The 13th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was originally scheduled to kick off on March 29. The spread of the Covid-19 virus has resulted in an indefinite postponement with the possibility of it being cancelled. So we’re reliving some of the best clashes between the franchises and standout performances. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) vs Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) was set to be the blockbuster match of the day (April 23) as per the original schedule.
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KKR and KXIP have played 25 matches against each other, with KKR having a big lead in the head-to-head. KKR have won this tie 17 times and KXIP have won it 8 times.
KKR’s dominance over KXIP has increased in recent years. Since IPL 2014, KXIP have won against KKR only twice.
Most Runs – Gautam Gambhir (492 runs) is the highest accumulator of runs in this tie. Glenn Maxwell is the highest scorer from the KXIP side in this tie, with 252 runs. Chris Gayle and Wriddhiman Saha, both of whom have played for both the franchises, are among the top five run-getters in this tie.
Most Wickets – Sunil Narine (26) is the highest wicket-taker in this tie, closely followed by Piyush Chawla (24).
Highest Score – There have been two centuries scored in this tie, both by KXIP players. Wriddhiman Saha’s 115 in the IPL 2014 final is the highest score in this tie. Mahela Jayawardene’s 110 in IPL 2010 was scored against KKR.
Best Bowling – Sunil Narine has been the star bowler in this tie, holding the best as well as the second-best bowling figures in the history of this tie. His 5/19 in IPL 2012 is the best figures from this fixture.
Sunil Narine has produced some match-winning efforts against KXIP, both with the bat and the ball. (File Photo/BCCI)
Solo efforts
Ganguly caps off first season on triumphant note – IPL 2008
KKR started off the first season of the IPL with Brendon McCullum’s 158, but had little else going their way for the duration of the season. By the last match of the season, against KXIP, they had nothing to play for but pride. Captain Sourav Ganguly stepped up to give the KKR faithful a feel-good story to end the season with an unbeaten 86 off 53 balls.
Ganguly put on a 49-run 7th wicket stand with Umar Gul to keep KKR within sight of the 175-run target. In the final over, Ganguly faced Irfan Pathan with 15 required to win. Two sixes and a couple of runs scampered through followed. Ganguly then tapped a single to complete the win.
Wriddhiman’s century goes in vain – IPL 2014
The final of the 2014 IPL season offered an edge-of-the-seat thriller, with KKR snatching victory with 3 wickets left and 3 balls to spare. Wriddhiman Saha, playing for KXIP, scored a 55-ball 115. This was the first hundred scored in an IPL final. Saha punished the KKR bowling attack, bringing up 141 runs for the team in the last 10 overs of the innings.
However, the telling contribution in this match would come from KKR’s uncapped player, Manish Pandey. Leading the run chase for his team, Pandey’s 50-ball 94 ensured that KKR never fell behind the asking rate. When his wicket fell, KKR needed 21 runs in 3 overs.
Chawla’s efforts trump Narine’s fifer – IPL 2015
The best bowling figures in this tie – like Wriddhiman’s 115 – came in a losing cause. Sunil Narine’s 5/19 was in a low-scoring match which was won by KXIP, courtesy a batting failure from KKR and economical bowling by KXIP bowlers – Piyush Chawla (3/18), Bhargav Bhatt (2/24) and Praveen Kumar (0/22).
Narine’s fifer – including the wickets of Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh – helped KKR wrap up the KXIP innings for 134/9. However, despite having a deep batting order, none of the KKR batsmen could capitalize on their starts and KXIP won the match by 2 runs, with Debabrata Das and Ryan ten Doeschate failing to get 13 runs in the last two overs.
Narine savages KXIP – IPL 2018
Sunil Narine, opening the batting for KKR, showed he could do more than just clear the park with hand-eye coordination for the first few balls with a massive 75-run knock in this match. Anchoring the innings till the 12th over, Narine’s big hitting set the tone for the match – a total of 459 runs were scored on the night. KKR scored 245/6, which remains the fourth highest total in the IPL.
KL Rahul started off the KXIP innings on a similar note with a 29-ball 66, but the asking rate was always going to be climbing and Prasidh Krishna and Andre Russell shared five wickets as KKR saw out the game with a margin of 31 runs.