Batting first, Punjab got off to a slow start as both openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal unable to find momentum or the gaps in the powerplay. A few deliveries before the end of the powerplay, when KKR’s Shivam Mavi kept the batters tied up, Rahul looked to hit Pat Cummins for a second consecutive six but was caught by Sunil Narine for 19.
Off the next over, Chris Gayle was caught behind off Mavi for a first ball duck, bringing Deepak Hooda to the middle.
Hooda and Mayank too struggled to kick start a partnership with the middle-order bat being dismissed by Prasidh Krishna for 1, leaving Punjab at 42/3 in the 8th over.
Nicholas Pooran and Mayank tried to steady the ship and were almost settling in before KKR struck again. Narine had Mayank trying to pull and caught sharply by Rahul Tripathi for 31, as the innings continued its downward slide.
Narine then packed off Moises Henriques for 2 even as Pooran was starting to look for the big shots at the other end. With 6 overs to go,…