NEW DELHI: Lauding Andre Russell, who had finally come to the party this IPL season vs Punjab Kings on Monday, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Nitish Rana said he kept "backing" the power hitter. Rana also said he knew that a match-winning innings was round the corner.
KKR defeated Punjab Kings by five wickets, chasing down the 180-run winning target off the last ball of the innings, with Russell scoring a 23-ball 43 studded with three fours and as many maximums.
Russell punished PBKS quick Sam Curran in the penultimate over of the innings, hitting the England bowler for three sixes before the West Indian was run out, leaving Rinku Singh to score the winning runs.
Rinku smashed a boundary of the last ball to win the match for KKR.
"Ten matches have gone, we were all waiting for that one Russell innings to come. He was one innings away, I kept backing him saying you have done a lot, and you will 100 per cent win us a game," said Nitish Rana.
Rana also conceded he was angry with his bowlers conceding runs in the last couple of overs to let PBKS score a competitive 179/7.
"This pitch was a feel of home advantage as well. Our bowlers bowled badly at the death, I was angry that we conceded that many because this was a 160-165 run wicket.
Punjab Kings captain Shikhar Dhawan lamented the lack of a quality off-spinner in his side, though leg-spinner Rahul Chahar did bowl a tight spell.
"I feel that we don't have a good off-spinner. When left-handers come, from one end we have a leg-spinner and at the other end we have a left-arm spinner (Harpreet Brar). So that's where I feel we are leaking a bit of runs. This wicket was offering turn as well so I feel that's where we took the hit," said Shikhar.
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>IANSDhawan did sound dejected now that they are staring at relegation.
"Not feeling that great. We lost the game and it was not an easy track to bat on and I feel that we put on a good total. At the end, they played well.
"It was great, phenomenal effort from Arshdeep (Singh) and the way he has bounced back from the last game, all credit goes to him. It was quite interesting that he took the game to the last ball so it was really good," added Shikhar.
(With inputs from PTI)
