STATISTICAL HIGHLIGHTS
Follow UsPunjab Batsmen once again failed to assess the conditions and ended up scoring a total less than 125 for the third time in six games. After an early stutter, Kolkata, helped by their skipper Eoin Morgan, chased down the target with ease.
Here are the top statistical highlights from the 21st game of IPL 2021 and the first IPL match at the renovated stadium in Ahmedabad-
1. Another duck for Nitish Rana
Since the last season, Rana has developed an affinity to first ball ducks. Tonight was his fourth first ball duck in IPL, all since 2020. This was his third first-ball duck as an opener. He is now has the joint-highest number of first-ball ducks as a Kolkata opener along with Gautam Gambhir: 3.
Moreover, this was his fifth IPL duck since 2019. Only Rashid Khan has scored more ducks than him in this period.
Overall, Rashid Khan also holds the record for most first-ball ducks in IPL: 8
2. Captain Morgan breaches 7000
When Eoin Morgan hit Deepak Hooda for a six over long-off, he became the fourth Englishman to reach 7000 runs in T20 cricket.
He has scored a majority of these runs while playing for Middlesex (2611) and England (2466). For Kolkata, he currently stands 56 runs short of 1000 T20 runs.
3. Run-Outs continue to torment KKR
When Kolkata were 17/3, a direct hit from Chris Gayle from mid-wicket almost had Rahul Tripathi in trouble. Later, it was Andre Russell who suffered from the inevitable and was run out. In six games, Kolkata already have five run outs against them, the most in this season.
Also, with Russell’s run out, they have joined Punjab as the team with most run outs in IPL.
4. An 18-ball 30 from Chris Jordan deserves an honorary mention. This is highest score in IPL and also the fourth-highest score for a Punjab batsman while batting at number eight. It was due to his knock that Punjab were able to cross the three figure mark.
