Kolkata: Rinku Singh did what he does the best as he sent the Eden Gardens into a frenzy by providing yet another sensational finish with a four off the last ball to win a thriller for Kolkata Knight Riders in Match 53 of TATA IPL 2023 in Kolkata.
A collective batting effort from Kolkata saw Nitish Rana lead from the front with a crucial knock of 51(38) before Andre Russell (42 off 23) and Rinku Singh (21* off 10) provided the final flourish to win the fifth match of the season for Kolkata.
Earlier, a composed knock of 57(47) from captain Shikhar Dhawan, coupled with blistering cameos from Shahrukh Khan (21* off 8) and Harpreet Brar (17* off 9) propelled Punjab Kings to a competitive 179/7.
Chasing 180, KKR's Impact Player Jason Roy provided a fast start, hitting three fours in the first three overs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz then got into the act as he smacked one over deep square leg for a six and drove one down the ground for a four off Arshdeep Singh before Roy thumped one over extra cover for another four to make it 16 runs off the over. Dhawan then brought on Impact Player Nathan Ellis into the attack and he provided the first breakthrough by trapping Gurbaz (15 off 12) LBW. The batsman reviewed it but the ball tracker showed all three reds.
Roy though continued his attacking ways, hitting three fours off Sam Curran to take the score to 52/1 at the end of the Powerplay. Roy thumped a couple of fours off Liam Livingstone. Dhawan then handed over the ball to Harpreet Brar and he got the big wicket by having Roy (38 off 24) caught at deep mid-wicket, off just the second ball of his spell. Punjab kept things tight as Kolkata reached 76/2 at the halfway stage but the required run rate had gone past 10. The need for urgency was realised by captain Rana who went on the attack against Livingstone to hit him for a couple of fours and a six and make it 16 runs in the over.
After a quiet Chahar over, Rana hit a couple of fours off Curran and then cracked a four off Chahar as well in the next over to bring up the 50-run stand with Venkatesh Iyer. Chahar though broke the partnership in the same over as he had Iyer (11 off 13) caught at long off, off a googly to dent Kolkata. Rana then brought up his fifty off 37 balls but he departed off the next ball as he miscued his reverse sweep wide of long off where Livingstone pouched a very good running catch. Chahar bowled a fantastic over, giving way just 7 and sending back Rana. With 51 needed off 24, Russell cracked a four and Rinku Singh heaved one over deep square leg for a six to take 15 runs off the Ellis over and bring the equation down to 36 needed off 18.
The pair hit a four each off the Arshdeep over to take 10 off it as the equation came to 26 needed off 12.
Rinku Singh took a single off the first ball of the penultimate over from Curran and then Russell turned tables with three sixes from four balls, two over deep square leg and one over point, to bring the equation down to 6 needed off the last over.
