KOLKATA: Rinku Singh remains Kolkata Knight Riders' new hero as he once again scripted a last-ball victory, hitting a four to keep the side alive in this IPL.
KKR's five-wicket victory against Punjab Kings in a must-win match at the Eden Gardens here on Monday saw them climb to fifth spot. On a slow Eden track, the KKR spinners did well to restrict the opposition to179/7 after Punjab skipper Shikhar Dhawan opted to bat first on winning the toss.
Both the skippers led from the front but it was Nitish Rana who had the last laugh. Rana raised hopes of a KKR win with a well-crafted 51 off 38 balls after coming up the order at No. 3. With mo re than 100 runs needed off the last 10 overs, Rana opened up, hitting Liam Livingstone for two fours and one six.
Strangely, Dhawan opted for part-time spinner Livingstone to replace Harpreet Brar, who had opener Jason Roy caught at deep mid-wicket by Shahrukh Khan for 38 in his first over. However, things became tight for KKR after Livingstone took a great running catch from long-off to dismiss Rana. The KKR skipper fell for 51 off 38 balls. But Andre Russell tilted the balance of the game, hitting Sam Curran for three sixes in the penultimate over.
1/10:IPL 2023: KKR beat Punjab Kings to keep playoffs hopes alive
ANI
2/10:Russell and Rinku
<p>Andre Russell's blazing 42 and a finishing act by Rinku Singh kept Kolkata Knight Riders in the hunt for the playoffs with a tense final-ball win over Punjab Kings on Monday.</p>AFP
3/10:Varun Chakravarthy
<p>Spinner Varun Chakravarthy set up victory with bowling figures of 3/26 including the key wicket of Liam Livingstone (15), as Punjab finished on 179/7.</p>AFP
4/10:Shikhar Dhawan
<p>Skipper Shikhar Dhawan's 57 and late cameos boosted Punjab's total with 36 runs from the last two overs, but the effort was not enough. </p>AFP
5/10:Harshit Rana
<p>Fast bowler Harshit Rana provided the early breakthroughs including Bhanuka Rajapaksa for a duck. </p>PTI
6/10:Suyash Sharma
<p>Chakravarthy and Suyash Sharma, who got Sam Curran caught behind four, combined to choke the flow of runs with their leg spin. </p>AFP
7/10:3rd 50 of the season
<p>Dhawan kept up the charge despite getting little support from the other end as he reached his third fifty of the season before departing in the 15th over. </p>AP
8/10:Nitish Rana
<p>Skipper Nitish Rana set up the chase with his 51 after Jason Roy gave the home team a solid start with his 38 off 24 balls but a few wickets set KKR back. </p>IANS
9/10:Match-winning partnership
<p>KKR looked in trouble at 124/4 while chasing 180 for victory when Russell and Rinku (21*), put on a partnership of 54 to win by five wickets. </p>IANS
10/10:53 runs in 4 overs
<p>The Russell-Rinku combination tore into the opposition attack as KKR hammered 53 runs in the final four overs to pocket their fifth win in 11 matches. </p>IANSEarlier, Punjab skipper Shikhar Dhawan once again led from the front, adjusting his shots according to the pace of the wicket. But none of his teammates could apply themselves on a track where stroke-making was not that easy. It was pacer Harshit Rana who drew first blood, picking up opener Prabhsimran Singh and Bhanuka Rajapaksa off consecutive overs.
KKR's last-match hero Varun Chakaravarthy then did the real damage, trapping Punjab's in-form batter Liam Livingstone in front in his very first over. Dhawan was involved in a crucial 53-run fourth-wicket stand with Jitesh Sharma that steadied the Punjab innings.
But the KKR spinners managed to keep things tight to keep the run-rate under check. Chakaravarthy returned to pick up Sharma, the wicketkeeper-batter being caught behind by Rahmanullah Gurbaz while trying to run one down third man.
Rana's decision to bring himself on turned out to be a masterstroke as he had his Punjab counterpart caught at long-on by Vaibhav Arora. However, Shahrukh Khan and Harpreet Brar then used the long handle well to prop up Punjab, but it was not enough to upstage Russell and Rinku in the end.
