In a thrilling encounter between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Punjab Kings (PBKS), KKR emerged victorious by 5 wickets, thanks to an incredible batting display by Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, and Rinku Singh.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, PBKS got off to a strong start, with Prabhsimran Singh and Shikhar Dhawan collecting runs through boundaries. However, KKR's spin trio of Sunil Narine, Suyash Sharma, and Varun Chakravarthy did extremely well to keep things under control in the middle overs, with Narine and Sharma picking up a wicket each.
PBKS' Shahrukh Khan and Harpreet Brar provided the late fireworks to power their team to a total of 179/7. KKR got off to a slow start, with just 10 runs coming off the first two overs. However, things changed in the fourth over when Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Jason Roy hammered Arshdeep Singh for 16 runs.
Roy looked to continue his momentum but was dismissed by Harpreet Brar, who got rid of the English batter for 31. KKR then lost a couple of quick wickets, with Rana and Venkatesh Iyer at the crease.
Rana played an incredible innings, scoring 51 off 38 balls, which included five boundaries and three sixes. After Rana's dismissal, the onus was on Russell and Rinku to take KKR over the line. Russell hit back-to-back sixes in the penultimate over to bring KKR close to victory.
In the final over, Russell tried to steal a bye, but Jitesh Sharma was smart to lob it over the stumps to Arshdeep Singh, who waited, then threw it at the non-striker's end. Russell had to return back to the hut. With two runs needed off the last ball, Rinku smoked it over the square leg fence for a six, clinching a nail-biting thriller.
With this win, KKR moved to fifth on the table and gave a new life to their challenge for a playoff spot. On the other hand, PBKS would be deflated with that loss, which is a big blow to their chances of making it through to the playoffs. KKR's next match is against Delhi Capitals on May 11, while PBKS will face Royal Challengers Bangalore on May 14.