Kolkata Knight Riders players Rinku Singh and Shardul Thakur celebrate after winning the IPL 2023 cricket match against Punjab Kings, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Monday, May 8, 2023. (PTI Photo
Kolkata: Skipper Nitish Rana scored a half-century (51 off 38 balls), while West Indian middle-order batter Andre Russell (42) and Rinku Singh (21 not out) played some fine strokes at the back end as Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Punjab Kings by five wickets in a last-ball IPL thriller here on Monday.
Chasing 180 for victory, KKR scored 182/5, with Russell playing a pivotal role in the game, hitting three sixes in Sam Curran’s 19th overs to bring his team closer to the target.
Rinku then scored a four off the last ball of the innings to signal KKR’s victory.
Earlier, KKR spinner Varun Chakravarthy grabbed three wickets for 26 runs but Punjab Kings still managed a fighting 179/7 with skipper Shikhar Dhawan scoring a half century.
Dhawan (57 off 47 balls) was also involved in a 53-run partnership with wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma (21) and laid the foundation for later-order batters to set a competitive total.
Brief scores:
Punjab Kings: 179 for 7 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 57; Varun Chakravarthy 3/26, Harshit Rana 2/33).
Kolkata Knight Riders: 182 for 5 in 20 overs (Jason Roy 38, Nitish Rana 51, Andre Russell 42, Rinku Singh 21 not out; Rahul Chahar 2/23, Nathan Ellis 1/29).
This post was last modified on May 8, 2023 11:45 pm