IPL 2024

‘Rinku ko to match finish karne ki aadat ho gayi hai’ – Fans react as KKR beat PBKS by 5 wickets in last-ball thriller

Published on May 9, 2023

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) kept themselves alive in IPL 2023 as they defeated Punjab Kings by 5 wickets in a last-ball thriller in match number 53 of the season at the Eden Gardens. Batting first PBKS posted a total of 179 runs for the loss of 7 wickets. In reply, KKR scored 182 runs losing 5 wickets in their 20 overs.

PBKS didn’t have a great start as they lost 3 wickets for 53 runs in 5.3 overs. After that, the skipper Shikhar Dhawan added 53 runs with Jitesh Sharma for the fourth wicket. Jitesh got out after scoring 21 off 18 balls hitting two sixes. While Dhawan got out after a well-made 57 runs off 47 balls hitting nine fours and two sixes. PBKS were reduced to 139 for 7 in 17.2 overs.

After that, Shahrukh Khan and Harpreet Brar put up an unbeaten partnership of 40 runs for the eighth wicket as PBKS crosses 170 runs. Brar remained unbeaten on 17 off 9 with two fours and a six. While Shahrukh smashed 21 runs off 8 balls hitting three fours and a maximum. For KKR, Varun Chakravarthy scalped 3 wickets conceding 26 runs in his four overs. Harshit Rana took 2, while Suyash Sharma and Nitish Rana shared a wicket each.

Chasing the winning total, Jason Roy and Rahmanullah Gurbaz gave a fine start to KKR by adding 38 runs for the first wicket in 4.4 overs. Roy got out after scoring 38 runs off 24 balls hitting eight boundaries. After that, skipper Nitish Rana took charge of the innings by adding 51 runs with Venkatesh Iyer for the third wicket. Rana got out in the 16th over after scoring 51 runs off 38 balls with six four and a maximum.

Andre Russell turned the match in KKR’s favour in the penultimate over

After Rana’s dismissal, Andre Russell and Rinku Singh took the innings further with a partnership of 54 runs for the fifth wicket. Russell smashed Sam Curran for three sixes in the penultimate over of the match as the PBKS pacer ended up conceding 20 runs in that over and now, KKR needed 6 runs off the last over to win. Arshdeep Singh bowled the final over for PBKS and took the match to the last ball with his tight bowling.

However, another twist came in the match when Russell got runout in the second last ball of the match after scoring 42 off 23 balls smashing three fours and three sixes. Now KKR needed 2 off the final ball. After that, Rinku smashed the full toss by Arshdeep to fine leg for a boundary to give KKR a thrilling victory on the last ball. Rinku remained unbeaten on 21 runs off 10 balls with two fours and a maximum. For PBKS, Rahul Chahar scalped 2 wickets conceding 23 runs in his four overs. While Nathan Ellis and Harpreet Brar shared a wicket each.

Kkr pic.twitter.com/hOlC2EFE18
— Sanket (@SanketS64861430) May 8, 2023

pic.twitter.com/tkRRaUVHVC
— HaRRsh Sharma 🇮🇳 (@Harsh_sharma422) May 8, 2023

Well done #arshdeepsingh , giving a sniff of winning to punjab while defending just 6 in last over is a tough ask. Keep your head up champ❤️🙌
— Sujal (@Sujal_Pandey07) May 8, 2023

ARSHDEEP SINGH THE WARRIOR.
KKR needed 6 in 6 balls – 0,1,1,2,W,4. He gave his best to defend just 6 runs in the final over and took the game till the final ball, a champion performance by Arshdeep! pic.twitter.com/BVtFedZyqj
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 8, 2023