Abu Dhabi: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) held their nerve for the second time in a row to pull a thrilling two-run win defeating Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Saturday (October 10).
Electing to bat first, KKR lost last-match hero Rahul Tripathi early as Mohammad Shami disrupted the timber in the third over. KXIP picked their second wicket in the next over following a mix-up between Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill.
The reason why we love this game! 😍
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) October 10, 2020
What. A. Win. #AakhriDumTakAakhriRunTak #KKRHaiTaiyaar #Dream11IPL #KXIPvKKR pic.twitter.com/iV1YEpwqQv
KKR needed some solidity at that stage and Eoin Morgan and Gill did just that even as KXIP managed to keep things extremely compact. The KKR duo added 49 runs together before Morgan was holed out for 24 at long-on off Ravi Bishnoi’s bowling in the 11th over.
With KKR requiring to change gears, captain Dinesh Karthik joined Gill in the middle. In the next over, Gill brought up his second fifty of the IPL season as KKR moved past the 100-run mark. The wicketkeeper-batsman then started to up the ante as he took on Arshdeep Singh, hitting the left-arm medium-pacer for three fours in the 16th over.
The DK show continued as he went after Chris Jordan in the next over, hitting the England pacer for two fours and a six over long-off as KKR crossed 130-run mark, with Karthik moving to 43 off 19 balls. While KXIP managed to end Gill’s innings in the 18th over, DK continued his high-spirited ways, bringing up his first fifty of IPL 2020 in 22 balls.
KKR added 18 runs in the last two overs to post 164/6 on the board. In reply, KL Rahul got an early life as Andre Russell could not hold onto a running tough catch and injured himself while saving a boundary.
WATCH – Russell drops catch, injures knee
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 10, 2020
Failed to take a catch and hurt himself while saving a boundary. We hope Russell is fine.https://t.co/95hDIEDzXt #Dream11IPL
Mayank Agarwal then creamed two fours and a six in the fourth over off Prasidh Krishna. KXIP brought up their fifty in the seventh over. While there were a few overs where KKR did not admit many, Mayank hit two brittle fours in the 11th over KXIP moved closer to hundred.
Two overs later, Rahul, who hit two solid fours, and Mayank marked up their fifties as KXIP continued their stride in the chase. However, KKR managed to break the Mayank-Rahul partnership in the 15th over as they dismissed the former for 59.
Nicholas Pooran and Rahul then scored 19 off the 16th over, with Pooran hitting a four and a six and Rahul adding one more four to his account. KKR had pulled back a game at the death against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and they once started to pull things back when Sunil Narine, admitting just two runs, dismissed Pooran in the 18th over.
With 20 needed from two overs, Krishna gave away only six runs and picked two wickets, including that of Rahul. KXIP needed 14 off the last over and Narine was handed over the responsibility to bowl that over. While KXIP could only score two off the first two balls, Glenn Maxwell hit a four off the third to bring down the target to 8 from 3 balls.
KKR then gave away just a run and headed a wicket of Mandeep Singh over the next two balls, leaving them to score six off the last ball to push the game into the Super Over. While Maxwell went big, the ball landed just a couple of inches inside the boundary rope for four as KKR won the game to add two points to their account.
Brief Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 164/6 (Dinesh Karthik 58, Shubman Gill 57; Arshdeep Singh 1/25) beat Kings XI Punjab 162/5 (KL Rahul 74, Mayank Agarwal 59; Prasidh Krishna 3/29) by two runs.
