Man of the Match today KKR vs PBKS: Who was awarded Man of the Match in Kolkata vs Punjab IPL 2021 match?

Man of the Match today KKR vs PBKS: The captain of Punjab Kings won the match award for scoring his 26th IPL half-century.

During the 45th match of the ongoing 14th season of the Indian Premier League between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings in Dubai, Punjab Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 5 wickets.

In what is the fifth of their 12 matches so far this season, PBKS have moved to the fifth position on the points table. While a victory has kept Punjab in the run for teams eligible to qualify for the playoffs, it also means that Delhi Capitals have become the second team to qualify.

After being asked to bat first by Punjab captain Lokesh Rahul, Knight Riders have managed to score 165/7 in 20 overs primarily due to a 72-run partnership for the second wicket between Venkatesh Iyer (67) and Rahul Tripathi (34). With bowling figures of 4-0-32-3, Kings pacer Arshdeep Singh was the pick of their bowlers.

Man of the Match today KKR vs PBKS

Chasing a 166-run target, Kings were taken past the victory line by batter Shahrukh Khan who scored 22* (9) including a four and two sixes. Facing KKR all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer, Shahrukh thrived to win the match with three wickets in hand.

It was a 70-run opening partnership between Rahul (67) and Mayank Agarwal (40) which handed an advantage to Kings. Agarwal, who went all guns blazing especially in the powerplay, appeared to be in a different league whilst hitting three fours and sixes each.

Having said that, it was Rahul who held the innings together to not only wear the Orange Cap but also win the ‘Man of the Match’ award at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium tonight.

“We are used to this, but I’ll take the two points. We played brilliantly and smartly. We realised it was a decent wicket. There wasn’t much spin. The bowlers felt we can make the batsmen sideways. Really happy that we could get over the line,” Rahul was quoted as saying by Star Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony.