In one of the most thrilling ends to an IPL match in this season so far, the Kings XI Punjab fell short by mere inches as KKR secured a two-run victory on Saturday.
Needing seven runs from the final ball of the match, Glenn Maxwell smacked Sunil Narine's delivery to the cover boundary, but the ball fell merely inches short of the boundary line. At one stage, KXIP were cruising to victory in the game but threw away the game with poor shot selection and controversial decisions in the batting order.
With the win, the Kolkata Knight Riders are now third in the IPL table with four wins from six matches. KKR owner Shah Rukh Khan, who was present at the stadium, has reacted to the thrilling victory.
Quoting Al Pacino's speech from his 1999 sports movie 'Any Given Sunday,' Shah Rukh wrote, "when we add up all those inches that’s gonna make the difference between WINNING and LOSING” (Al Pacino) well done @KKRiders boys. @SunilPNarine74 @prasidh43 @RealShubmanGill & Cap @DineshKarthik ( the win was too close for my gentle heart) love u all."
The KKR put 164/6 in 20 overs, with one of the biggest positives being Dinesh Karthik's return to form. The KKR captain, who had struggled to breach the double figures with the bat over the past few games, slammed 58 off just 29 balls which included eight fours and two sixes.
In return, the KXIP started strongly and only lost their first wicket in the 15th over at the score of 115. The side went on to lose another four wickets within 43 runs -- including that of captain KL Rahul, who scored 74.
With 14 needed to win in the final over, Sunil Narine bowled a brilliant final over as he conceded 11 and also took a wicket to steer KKR to their fourth win of the season.
