Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat Punjab Kings by six wickets in the Indian Premier League on Friday to register their second successive win in the Indian Premier League with Andre Russell’s scintillating half-century after Umesh Yadav’s fine bowling.
Chasing a target of 138 for Punjab Kings, KKR took Russell’s unbeaten 70 off 31 balls with eight sixes and two fours and Sam Billings (24 not out in 23 balls, one four, one six) for his fifth wicket. Thanks to an unbroken 90-run partnership, scored 141 for four in 14.3 overs to take an easy victory. Captain Shreyas Iyer also scored 26 runs.
For Punjab Kings, Rahul Chahar took two wickets for just 13 runs in four overs but could not save the team from defeat. In front of the sharp bowling of Umesh (4 for 23), Punjab’s team was reduced to 137 runs in 18.2 overs. Tim Southee (2 for 36) also played well with him and picked up two wickets.
Punjab Kings lost wickets at regular intervals. The biggest partnership for the team was 41 runs for the second wicket between its top scorer Bhanuka Rajapakse (31) and Shikhar Dhawan (16). Apart from Rajapaksa, only Kagiso Rabada (25) could cross the 20-run mark.
Chasing the target, KKR also had a poor start and the team lost four wickets for 51 runs in the seventh over but after that Russell single-handedly changed the course of the match. Ajinkya Rahane started with two fours in Arshdeep’s first over but Kagiso Rabada’s next over was caught by Odeon Smith at short third man. He scored 12 runs.
Opener Venkatesh Iyer also got caught by Smith off Harpreet Brar after scoring three runs. Skipper Shreyas Iyer (26) also hit four boundaries on Rabada and Smith after hitting Arshdeep for two consecutive fours. However, trying to play a big shot off leg-spinner Rahul Chahar, he waved the ball in the air and caught it to Rabada.
Chahar gave the fourth blow to KKR after a ball by lbw to Nitish Rana (00). It was an over maiden by Chahar. Russell added to the run-rate with two sixes on left-arm spinner Harpreet. The team scored 73 runs for four wickets in 10 overs. Russell made KKR the upper hand by hitting four and three sixes in Smith’s over and in the 12th over, the team’s score crossed 100 runs. Billings also hit a six which made 30 runs in the over.
KKR needed just 29 runs in the last eight overs. Russell completed his half-century in just 26 balls with a four on Arshdeep. Russell took KKR to the target with two consecutive sixes on Liam Livingstone. Earlier, Punjab Kings added 62 runs in the power play but the team could add only 75 runs in the remaining overs.
Iyer decided to bowl first, which Umesh proved right, in the very first over, the captain of the opposition team, Mayank Agarwal (01) was lbw. Rajapaksa opened the account with a four on Southee and then also hit a four on Umesh. Opener Shikhar Dhawan hit Umesh for the first six of the innings.
Rajapaksa welcomed Shivam Mavi (1 for 39) with fours and three sixes in the first four balls but was caught off the next ball to Southee at mid-off. Rajapaksa hit three fours and three sixes in his nine-ball knock. Southee got Dhawan caught by wicketkeeper Sam Billings. Punjab scored 62 for three in the power play.
The run-rate was curtailed by falling wickets which put Liam Livingstone (19) under pressure and caught Southee at long off boundary trying to play a big shot off Umesh. Sunil Narine (1 for 23) bowled Raj Bawa (11), the hero of India’s Under-19 World Cup title win, in the next over.
Shahrukh Khan also waved Southee’s ball in the air without opening the account and caught it to Nitish Rana, which took the team’s score to 92 for six. Punjab’s century of runs was completed in the 14th over. Umesh bowled Harpreet Brar (14) to break Punjab’s team’s hopes of reaching a big score. He scored 14 runs. On the next ball, Umesh also got Rahul Chahar (00) caught by Rana in the slips.
Rabada added to the run-rate with two consecutive fours on Mavi after hitting two fours and sixes in successive deliveries from Southee. Southee took his brilliant catch off the ball of Andre Russell. Punjab’s innings came to an end after Arshdeep Singh was run out on the next ball.