KKR vs PBKS: Andre Russell and Rinku Singh led Kolkata Knight Riders' charge as they pulled off a nail-biting win over Punjab Kings at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata. Chasing a target of 180 on a tricky Kolkata pitch, the duo of Russell and Rinku helped KKR go home with 5 wickets in hand on the very last ball of the game. With this win, KKR have kept their hopes of playoffs very much alive and have made a big jump in the points table.
The chase was well set by captain Nitish Rana and later powered by Rinku and Russell. 26 runs were needed off the 12 balls as Russell and Rinku were in the middle. Russell tonked Sam Curran for three sixes as he collected 20 runs in the 19th over to get KKR on the driver's seat. The final over was tightly bowled by Arsheep Singh but he errored in his line and length on the final delivery. Arshdeep bowled a juicy full toss on RInku's pads and the Southpaw smashed it on the leg side for four to hit the winning runs.
However, it was not easy for KKR in the final over. With 6 needed off 6 balls, Arshdeep kept Russell at bay and gave only 3 runs in the four bowls that he bowled to him. 2 runs were needed off the final 2 balls and Russell missed his shot and was run out on the non-striker's end. It could have gone any way with 2 needed off the final ball but Rinku, as he has done before, took the team over the line.
Earlier, captain Nitish Rana and Jason Roy steadied the chase after Gurbaz's wicket. But Roy fell for 38 after his 24-ball stay. Venkatesh was soon outdone by Rahul Chahar. Even though Rana too fell to Chahar in the 16th over, Russell and Rinku were enough for the win. Russell ended his innings at 42 off 23 balls, while Rinku remained unbeaten on 21 off 10 balls.
Earlier, PBKS managed to get 179 on the back of Dhawan's fifty and contributions from the middle and lower middle order. Dhawan hit 57 off 47 balls, whereas Jitesh Sharma (21 off 18), Rishi Dhawan (19 off 11), Shahrukh Khan (21 off 8) and Harpreet Brar (17 off 9) powered PBKS to a fightable total.
After the win, KKR go on 5th place in the IPL Points table with 10 points from 11 games. Meanwhile, PBKS with similar points in the same number of games but have an inferior net run rate.
