Russell, Rinku script another thrilling finish for KKR

Varun Chakravarthy's miserly spell, Nitish Rana's half-century and brisk knocks by Jason Roy, Andre Russell and Rinku Singh powered Kolkata Knight Riders to a last-ball win over Punjab Kings, at the Eden Gardens. The five-wicket win on Monday helped KKR register their fifth win of the season and move to the fifth position on the points table. An entertaining start Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh came out all guns blazing against KKR's bowlers in the Powerplay. They didn't hold back from stepping out of the crease and playing on the up. Prabhsimran smashed three boundaries in the first over by Vaibhav Arora while Dhawan welcomed Harshit Rana with a couple of more hits to the fence in the first three balls. However, the early assault was negated quickly with a flurry of wickets. Even as the visitors added 58 runs in the Powerplay, they lost the wickets of Prabhsimran, Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Liam Livingstone in the process. Spin choke in the middle Chakravarthy had imposed himself in the Powerplay itself, trapping Livingstone legbefore. However, on a pitch that was slow and assisted the spinners, Sunil Narine and Suyash Sharma also proved difficult to get away with. The three early strikes had also subdued Dhawan's attacking approach as he tried to steady the innings in the company of Jitesh Sharma. The duo rotated the strike well and took the odd opportunity that came their way - Dhawan steered a tossed up delivery by Chakravarthy for a boundary while Jitesh put away a half-tracker by Suyash for a six. Just when the duo was promising to up the scoring rate with a flurry of boundaries off Suyash and Narine around the halfway mark of the innings, Jitesh was caught behind off Chakravarthy. Soon after, Dhawan top-edged a sweep off Narine for a six to bring up his fifty but was dismissed a few balls later, miscuing a loft off Nitish Rana to long on. The scoring rate was kept in check and a couple of more wickets fell - Chakravarthy cleaning up Rishi Dhawan and Suyash having Sam Curran caught behind. By the end of the 18th over, PBKS were kept to 143 for 7. The Shahrukh-Brar assault With a desperate need for runs, Shahrukh Khan and Harpreet Brar swung their bats fearlessly, often putting the inexperienced duo of Harshit and Vaibhav off their lines and lengths. Some were edged for boundaries and some found the middle of the bat as the duo managed to add 36 runs in the last two overs to propel the visitors to a competitive score. A strong but steady start Quite unlike PBKS, the KKR openers were more measured with their strokeplay. The two free-flowing batters - Jason Roy and Rahmanullah Gurbaz - were watchful yet took advantage of the scoring opportunities that came their way. While Rishi Dhawan offered a couple of boundary-scoring opportunities to Roy in the third over, Gurbaz used his natural style to play a pick-up shot off Arshdeep for a six and following it up with a couple of cracking boundaries. A slow yorker by Nathan Ellis had Gurbaz pinged on his pads and declared legbefore but a couple of boundaries off Sam Curran had ended PBKS' powerplay on 52 for 1. Cat-and-mouse game in the middle While Rahul Chahar did a fine job in controlling the scoring rate in the middle, especially keeping Venkatesh Iyer in check, the KKR batters took the attack on Livingstone. Roy cracked a couple of boundaries to end the spinner's first over while Rana took him on in his second, welcoming him with two boundaries and a six. Sandwiching those five deliveries were three tight overs which included the dismissal of Roy - caught slogsweeping to deep mid wicket. Iyer struggled his way to a 13-ball 11 before holing out to long on. The tight overs to follow had kept the hosts in check at 129 for 4 in 16 overs. Russell, Rinku provide the finish touches Andre Russell, who had walked out to bat in the 14th over, was looking scratchy early on. Even his first boundary came via a top edge of Ellis that got him going. While the plan to go short or yorker to Russell proved quite effective, the all-rounder was quick to go big against the variations and the errors in execution by the PBKS pacers. He belted Ellis's slower one and Arshdeep full deliveries for boundaries. In the 19th over, he hammered three sixes off Sam Curran - first one off a yorker, second of a slightly shorter length and third a slower bouncer. With 20 runs off the over, KKR were just left needing 6 in the final over. Arshdeep bowled superbly to bring the equation down to 2 runs off the last delivery, which included Russell's run out. However, a rare error in length - a low full toss on the legs of Rinku was picked up and sent for a boundary through the fine leg region. Brief Scores: Punjab Kings 179/7 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 57; Varun Chakravarthy 3-26) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 182/5 in 20 overs (Nitish Rana 51, Andre Russell 42; Rahul Chahar 2-23) by 5 wickets