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Kolkata Knight Riders batter Rinku Singh once again starred in a final-ball finish against Punjab Kings on Monday, May 8, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. KKR sealed a five-wicket win over the Shikhar Dhawan led-side as the match went down to the wire.
Punjab Kings set the home side a target of 180 after opting to bat first. The whole chase of KKR seemed topsy-turvy and unpredictable.
Andre Russell's assault (42 off 23) against Sam Curran in the penultimate over inched KKR closer to the win. The West Indies all-rounder smashed three sixes off the England all-rounder's bowling to reduce the equation to six runs needed in six balls.
Arshdeep Singh, who had conceded 31 runs from his three overs, didn't make it look like a cakewalk for Russell and Rinku. The left-arm speedster pushed the game to two runs from the last ball.
Rinku was on the strike after the KKR batters failed to steal the bye run as Russell was run out on the non-striker's end. Arshdeep missed the yorker and erred a full toss delivery to the southpaw. Rinku Singh flicked it toward the deep backward square leg for a boundary as KKR bagged the two crucial points.
Shikhar Dhawan's half-century in vain
Punjab Kings captain Shikhar Dhawan scored 57 runs from 47 balls with the assistance of nine fours and one six. It was Dhawan's 50th IPL fifty and thus he became the third player to achieve the feat in the tournament history.
KKR spinners came into the effect to contain the runs in the middle. Five of the seven PBKS' dismissals were claimed by spin bowlers. Varun Chakravarthy (3/26) was the key to build the pressure around the batters.
PBKS lower order Shahrukh Khan (21 off 8 balls) and Harpreet Brar (17 off 9 balls) blazed guns late to push for a competitive 179/7 on the board.
KKR have now jumped to three spots in the points table to slot at fifth position with 10 points from 11 matches. The playoffs contention is wide open as all 10 teams have a fair chance to qualify.
