IPL 2023: Rana's fifty, Rinku, Russell's death over show help KKR clinch thriller against PBKS

After Nitish Ranas halfcentury and blitz in the final two overs by Andre Russell and Rinku Singh guided Kolkata Knight Riders KKR to a 5wicket win over Punjab Kings at the Eden Gardens here on MondayThe win took KKR to fifth on the table and got a new life to their challenge for a playoff spot On the other hand will be deflated with that loss and it is a big blow to their chances of making it through to the playoffsAfter Shikhar Dhawans fifty Shahrukh Khan and Harpreet Brars blitz in the final two overs powered Punjab Kings PBKS to 1797In reply KKR opening duo Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Jason Roy came out with intent and the latter just blew away the opposition bowlers After Ranas 51 off 38 and Russells quickfire 42 off 23 Rinku 21 off 10 provided a fine finish with a boundary to clinch a thrillerAlso Read Dhawan blitz propels Punjab to 1797 against KnightsChasing 180 KKR had a steady start with just 10 runs in the first two overs The shackles were broken when both Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Jason Roy hammered Arshdeep Singh for 16 runs off the fourth overThe slower one from Nathan Ellis does the trick in the next over as he produced a backofthehand slower ball to get rid of Gurbaz Skipper Nitish Rana and Roy took the Powerplay total to 521Roy hit consecutive boundaries at the end of the seventh over He looked to continue with his momentum but Harpreet Brar made an instant impact as he got rid of the English batter who was looking to be in incredible formRoy went for a big sweep to deep midwicket but did not get the desired distance on it and Shahrukh Khan in the deep completed an easy catch Kolkata was going along nicely but has lost a couple of quick wickets and this has handed the advantage to PunjabAfter two quiet overs Rana hit the paddle and smashed two boundaries and a maximum to pace up the runchase The KKR skipper started continued hitting boundaries Venkatesh looked to break the shackles but it doesnt come off ad Rahul Chahar trapped him on a slower ballRana completed his fifth with a double but could not complete the job for his side as he holed out on the next after making his halfcentury He played a reverse sweep taking the aerial route but miscued it towards deep covers where Liam Livingstone took a stunning sliding catchWith needed 51 off 24 the onus shifted on Andre Russell and Rinku Singh to take KKR over the line Russell hit a boundary on the first of the 17th over then Rinku smoked it over the square leg fence for a six taking 15 off the overWith two boundaries coming off the 18th over the equation reached 26 needed in two overs Russell smacked backtoback maximums in the penultimate over After a dot ball he went for another six and finished the over with a single leaving 6 runs for the final over to winArshdeep Singh started well in the final over with a dot and a couple of singles followed by a double and two were needed in two ballsThe drama continued as Russell tried to steal a bye and Jitesh Sharma was smart to lob it over the stumps to Arshdeep who waited then throw it at the nonstrikers end and the batter had to return back to the hutThen Rinku yet again finished things off and took KKR over the line with a boundary off the final ballEarlier opting to bat first PBKS were off to a strong start with opening duo Prabhsimran Singh and Dhawan collecting runs through boundaries Harshit Rana struck early in the second over to dismiss PrabhsimranHarshit trapped his second victim in the form of Bhanuka Rajapaksa who played an aggressive cover drive on the front foot but edged it behind and Gurbaz was quick to pouch it safely as Punjab were reduced to 322Then Livingstone took Andre Russell to the cleaners smashing him for four boundaries before falling in the next over off the bowling of ChakravarthyKKR spin trio of Sunil Narine 17 Suyash Sharma 126 and Varun Chakaravarthy 326 did extremely well to keep things under control in the middle overs They even put a lid over the run rate Nitish Rana then surprised everyone when he got himself into the attack and got rid of the opposition skipper at a crucial juncture of the gameThe PBKS skipper hammered two successive boundaries taking 11 runs off the over Chakravarthy struck again in the 13th over to get rid of Jitesh for 21 breaking the 53run stand and PBKS were four downRana did the trick for his side The Kolkata skipper put his hand up this time and has the final laugh and got rid of the Punjab captainAfter Shikhar Dhawans dismissal Rishi Dhawan was playing a bit of a blinder to add crucial runs on the board but Chakravarthy got him in the last over of his spell to claim his third In the next over Suyash removed Sam Curran cheaply for 4Then the duo of Harpreet Brar and Shahrukh Khan racked up 36 runs off the last two over to take PBKS to 1797Brief scoresPunjab Kings 179 for 7 in 20 overs Shikhar Dhawan 57 Varun Chakravarthy 326 Harshit Rana 233 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 223 Nathan Ellis 129This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever