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IPL 10 KKR v KXIP: Gambhir’s gamble to open with Narine pays off, Kolkata wins by 8 wickets

Gambhir played a captain's knock yet another time and scored a total of 72 runs off just 49 balls which included 11 fours

And finally, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) roared at their home and brutally thrashed the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) by 8 wickets in the game number 11 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 10. This victory was a great comeback by the Kolkata Knights after getting defeated by the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede. But today, at the Eden Gardens, the boys justified their anthem Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo.

In the second innings, Gautam Gambhir and Co. needed to chase down a target of 171 in 20 overs. As usual, Gambhir came to open the inning but the man with whom he came surprised each and every cricket follower across the world. in absence of Chris Lynn, it was spinner Sunil Narine to opened the inning. It was simply a gamble what Gambhir played and guess what, it worked! The opening pair of Gambhir and Narine added a total score of 76 runs for the first wicket within 5 overs.

In the sixth over, Narine was dismissed By Varun Aron after he had scored 37 runs of 18 balls including 3 sixes and 4 fours.

Robin Uthappa was the next man who came in and contributed 26 runs off 16 balls before he was dismissed by Axal Patel. Skipper Gautam Gambhir remained on the crease and lead from the front. He played a captain’s knock yet another time and scored a total of 72 runs off just 49 balls which included 11 fours. After Uthappa’s dismissal, Manish Pandey came in and contributed 25 runs off 16 balls and accompanied the skipper to take their team towards victory.

After this magnificent knock, Gautam Gambhir has become the highest run-getter of this tournament and grabbed the Orange Cap. Till now, Gambhir has played 3 games and have scored 167 runs followed by Mumbai Indian’s Nitish Rana (129) and Chris Lynn (125).

Earlier, KKR won the toss and without any hesitation opted to field. Punjab fighting against the Kolkata bowling attack, including the extraordinary spells of Umesh Kumar (4-33-4) and Sunil Narine (4-19-1), managed to put a total of 171 on the scoreboard.