KKR vs PBKS, IPL 2023: Andre Russell and Rinku shine as KKR bag last-ball thriller

53rd Match, IPL: Kolkata Knight Riders 182 for 5 (Nitish 51, Andre Russell 42, Roy 38, Chahar 2-23) beat Punjab Kings 179 for 7 (Dhawan 57, Varun 3-26, Harshit 2-33) by five wickets

Kolkata Knight Riders managed to secure a narrow victory against Punjab Kings, but it was a close call for them, both in this match and throughout the tournament. Rinku Singh once again played a crucial role in their last-ball triumph, although it was not a miraculous comeback from an impossible situation. The match was a see-saw battle, largely influenced by KKR’s spinners, yet even their batsmen struggled on a slow pitch.

Nitish Rana provided a solid foundation for the chase with his impressive knock of 51 runs off 38 balls. However, it was Andre Russell who finally made an impact, smashing 20 runs in the 19th over bowled by Sam Curran, reducing the required runs to six off the last over. Arshdeep Singh fought back fiercely, making KKR work hard until the final ball, but Rinku Singh managed to find the boundary with just two runs needed to secure the win.

After the match, both Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) found themselves on equal footing with 10 points each from 11 matches. This puts them among the five teams currently sharing the same points in the middle of the table. However, it is worth noting that both Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians, who will face each other on Tuesday, have an additional match yet to be played, giving them the opportunity to potentially surpass the others in the standings.

Harshit Rana keeps a check

Knowing the potential effectiveness of spinners on the pitch, Punjab Kings (PBKS) strategically opted to bat first and targeted the new ball. Their aggressive approach was evident from the beginning, as Prabhsimran Singh took advantage of Vaibhav Arora’s inswing, dispatching three boundaries in the opening over.

However, PBKS encountered a hurdle in the form of the impressive Harshit Rana, who bowled with determination and managed to extract a disconcerting bounce from the pitch. Rana’s hard lengths troubled the batsmen, leading to the dismissals of Prabhsimran Singh and Bhanuka Rajapaksa, both caught behind the wicket while attempting big shots. Unfortunately for Rajapaksa, his return to the side resulted in a three-ball duck. Despite the setbacks, Liam Livingstone continued to attack, contributing to PBKS’s momentum by scoring 19 runs off the fifth over, bowled by Andre Russell, taking their total to 51 for 2.

The spin choke

During the powerplay and at the death, KKR did not hesitate to utilize spin. Three spinners were selected by them. As a result, they got right to the spin attack. Varun Chakravarthy got the first shot, and he made a beautiful legbreak to put Livingstone, who was running amok, in front of him.

With the KKR spinners bowling well, PBKS had to enter rebuild mode after losing a third wicket in the powerplay. After that, Jitesh Sharma hit Suyash Sharma for a six, and when Varun came back for the 13th over, Shikhar Dhawan had just about started to open up again with sweeps and reverse sweeps.

Varun made the breakthrough once more by spinning the ball away from Jitesh and getting the edge past the keeper. Nitish welcomed himself when two left-hand players were at the wicket, and got Dhawan for 57 off 47. Suyash continued to fix the screws with the wicket of Sam Curran. In reality, PBKS were limited to just 92 runs and five wickets on a slow pitch by 13 spin overs in a row.

Pace on, game on

PBKS came back to life as soon as KKR returned to pace for the final two overs, scoring 36 runs to reach 87 runs in just seven overs of pace. Harpreet Brar scored 17 and 21 from 8 respectively.

Nathan Ellis gives PBKS early lead

After that, batters followed a similar pattern of going after pace, but Nathan Ellis, playing ahead of Kagiso Rabada, confused Rahmanullah Gurbaz with his slower shot. After five overs, the score was 39 for 1, and Venkatesh Iyer was not allowed to bat at No. 3 KKR needed something special at that point because he had been off the field during the PBKS innings.

Rana attacks Livingstone

PBKS attempted to slow the ball down, but in Livingstone’s two overs, Jason Roy and Nitish hit five boundaries. It made it easier for KKR to lose Roy to Brar because the ball didn’t arrive in time for his slog-sweep. When Nitish bowled Livingstone’s second over, the equation had become difficult—104 runs from 10 overs on a difficult surface—and KKR now had to score 88 runs from 54 balls.

Chahar keeps PBKS in it

Despite not having the best season, Rahul Chahar showed up for PBKS with the wickets of Iyer and Rana, which he had earned by slowing down the pace himself. KKR needed 56 runs off 28 at the loss of Rana’s wicket, and Russell and Rinku were the only options left.

The finishing touches

Chahar dumbfounded out in the sixteenth, leaving KKR 51 to get off 24, however PBKS had an inquiry to respond to: bowl four overs at a brisk pace or use Brar’s left-arm spin. They chose a less risky route. Ellis was bowled out in the 17th over, but Russell hit a four and Rinku a six, and Ellis got 15 runs. Despite the absence of the extra spinner, KKR were still ahead in the game thanks to Ellis’ figures of 4-0-29-1.

However, with 26 required off two, Curran executed poorly and Andre Russell climbed in with two sixes over the larger boundary. He also skimmed one over the short side for good measure.

Arshdeep dumbfounded a sublime last, denying Russell the success, and afterward running him out as he mixed for a bye to tie the game off the fifth ball. Off the last ball, Arshdeep at long last blundered, and Rinku flicked the full-throw square of fine leg to get two times the prerequisite.