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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) by five wickets in the 53rd match of IPL 2023 on Monday, May 8, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. KKR moved up to the fifth position in the points table courtesy of the win.
After opting to bat first, PBKS reached 179/7 in 20 overs on the back of captain Shikhar Dhawan's half-century. Jitesh Sharma (21), Shahrukh Khan (21), and a couple of other batters chipped in with mini contributions for the visitors. Varun Chakaravarthy (3/26), meanwhile, was the pick of KKR bowlers.
Jason Roy (38) then gave a brisk start to KKR in the chase. Harpreet Brar dismissed him in the eighth over to give PBKS a timely breakthrough. Nitish Rana (51) then hit an enterprising half-century to keep his side in the hunt in the company of Venkatesh Iyer (11). Rahul Chahar (2/23) dismissed both of them in his consecutive overs to bring PBKS back into the contest.
Andre Russell (42) and Rinku Singh (21*) played blazing cameos to help their side win the game off the final ball. KKR captain Nitish Rana reflected on the win after the match, saying:
"When I was batting, I wanted to have the strike and attack since Venky wasn't comfortable with his ankle. 10 matches went away, we were all waiting for that one Russell innings to come. It was always one innings away for him. We have full confidence in him. Our bowlers couldn't execute well at the death, I was upset that we conceded so many runs in the last two overs because this was a 160-165 run track.
On Rinku Singh's knock, he added:
"I just keep telling him, believe in yourself because what you have achieved is something not many people will. When I came to KKR, I used to hear chants of 'Russell, Russell'. Now, when he was batting, the whole crowd was chanting 'Rinku, Rinku'. I was so happy with that."
KKR vs PBKS IPL 2023 memes
Fans enjoyed the encounter between Kolkata and Punjab on Monday. They expressed their reactions through some hilarious memes on social media.
Here is a collection of some of the best memes related to the game:
KKR will next face the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Thursday, May 11.
