Kings XI Punjab’s impressive resurgence continued on Monday with what was their fifth successive victory in the 2020 Indian Premier League.

KL Rahul and his men made short work of fellow play-off spot contenders Kolkata Knight Riders, with their convincing eight-wicket win in Sharjah propelling them to the fourth spot in the table.

A fine bowling display was at the heart of KXIP’s victory and it was the spin duo of Ravi Bishnoi and Murugan Ashwin who were at the forefront of that effort. The two spinners choked the scoring rate in the second half of the innings, after Eoin Morgan and Shubman Gill had helped Kolkata overcome the early loss of three wickets.

KKR completely lost the way in the last 10 overs, and were ultimately restricted to just 149-9. That total did not pose much of a challenge to KXIP’s batsmen, with half-centuries from Mandeep Singh and Chris Gayle sealing victory with an over to spare.

The win means Punjab are now in the play-off places for the first time in the campaign. The turnaround is remarkable given that the side had lost six of its seven matches in the first half of the campaign.