IPL 2023: Andre Russell, Rinku Singh keep KKR in hunt for playoffs

Andre Russell turned back the clock with a 23-ball 42 but Rinku Singh once again proved to be the rescuer-in-chief by calmly turning Arshdeep Singh off his legs for a boundary when the equation read two runs from one ball. With this five-wicket win over Punjab Kings at Eden Gardens, Kolkata Knight Riders stayed in the hunt for the playoffs after almost getting derailed in the middle overs of a tricky chase of 180.

A 53-run partnership between Jitesh Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan kept Punjab Kings in the hunt for a par score before cameos from Rishi Dhawan, Shahrukh Khan and Harpreet Brar gave their innings a final push. Till the last two overs of Punjab Kings’ innings, KKR had a stranglehold on the proceedings though. Sunil Narine had been quietly bowled out for 0/29 by the 16th over. Suyash Sharma too conceded just 26 from his quota apart from luring Sam Curran into top-edging a slog sweep.

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But the key blows were dealt by Varun Cakaravarthy with his wrong’uns. In the sixth over of the game, Liam Livingstone was lining up a big heave but he was tricked by a googly that quickly squared him up and crashed into his pads.

Then in the 13th over, Jitesh Sharma tried to run down a wide good length ball through third man but instead got an edge that Rahmanullah Gurbaz did wonderfully well to hold on to. When Chakaravarthy clean bowled Rishi Dhawan in the 17th over, KKR were perfectly placed to limit Punjab Kings to a gettable score. But Vaibhav Arora frittered away that momentum, bowling either too full or too short and conceding three boundaries in the 19th over.

Harshit Rana had conceded 12 in his first two overs but Shahrukh Khan had a better measure of him in the final over, picking a slower delivery and depositing it way over the long-on boundary. KKR brought up the off-side field the next ball but Harshit gave width, allowing Khan to cut him behind point for a four. That messed with Harshit’s lengths as he went on to concede another boundary and a six off the penultimate ball in an over that cost KKR 21 runs.

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Jason Roy started KKR’s chase with intent, flicking Arshdeep Singh for a four before taking two boundaries off Rishi. But Gurbaz provided the impetus, first by shuffling across the stumps and flicking Arshdeep over deep fine-leg for a six before straight driving him for a four. Another boundary through extra cover off the last ball and KKR had quickly set up base for a strong chase. But Nathan Ellis trapped Gurbaz plumb in front in the fifth over before Roy was caught in the deep in the eighth over.

Those two dismissals pegged back KKR’s run rate to the extent they had dropped off to 76/2 at the halfway mark. Nitish Rana brought alive the chase with two fours and a six off Livingstone in the 11th over followed by two boundaries off Curran but he was dismissed against the run of play trying to reverse sweep Rahul Chahar, only to spear a top edge that Livingstone caught brilliantly after covering almost 30 yards.

Enter Russell with KKR needing 65 off 38. Ellis was heaved through wide midwicket for a boundary before Rinku hammered him over deep square leg for a massive six. Once Arshdeep was hit for 10 runs, KKR had brought the equation down to 26 from 12 before Russell went berserk, carving Curran for three sixes in the 19th over.