Andre Russell’s unbeaten knock of 70 from 31 balls helped KKR chase down a 138-run target in 14.3 overs against Punjab Kings to register their second consecutive win of the season here at Wankhede Stadium on Friday.
Chasing a modest 138-run target Kolkata Knight Riders got off to a decent start with Ajinkya Rahane hitting consecutive boundaries to Arshdeep Singh in the opening over to complete 4,000 runs in IPL. Punjab needed some early wickets and Kagiso Rabada gave his side the wicket of Rahane for 12 caught by Odean Smith.
In the next over KKR captain, Shreyas Iyer walked in to bat and hit consecutive boundaries to Arshdeep Singh and Punjab scored 33/1 in 4 overs. Odean Smith was introduced into the attack in the fifth over and the medium-pacer struck in his first over dismissing opener Venkatesh Iyer for 3.
Wicket-keeper batter Sam Billings joined Shreyas Iyer in the middle and the duo took their team’s total beyond the 50-run mark in the sixth over.
Punjab skipper Mayank Agarwal introduced Rahul Chahar into the attack and the leggie struck twice dismissing Shreyas for 26 and Nitish Rana for a duck to leave Punjab tottering at 51 for 4.
Andre Russell walked in to bat and the powerful hitter hammered Harpreet Brar for two sixes in the 10th over. In the 12th over Russell hammered Smith for four sixes and a four to take Kolkata’s total beyond the triple-figure mark.
Andre Russell hammered eight sixes and two boundaries en route to his unbeaten knock of 70 from 31 balls and Sam Billings gave him company at the other end to guide KKR to a six-wicket win chasing the 138-run target in 14.3 overs.
Earlier in the day KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl first and Umesh Yadav justified his captain’s decision by dismissing Punjab Kings captain Mayank Agarwal for 1 in the very first over.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa joined Shikhar Dhawan in the middle and the Sri Lankan hit Shivam Mavi for a boundary and three consecutive sixes in the fourth over before getting out to him for 31 off 9 balls.
Liam Livingstone then joined Dhawan and the duo took the team’s total beyond the 50-run mark in the fifth over. In the last, over of the powerplay, Tim Southee dismissed Shikhar Dhawan for 16 caught by wicketkeeper Sam Billings as Punjab scored 62 for 3 in six overs.
Umesh Yadav was once again brought into the attack and he got his second wicket dismissing Livingstone for 19. In the very next over Sunil Narine cleaned up Raj Bawa as Punjab lost half of its side for 84.
Southee was once again introduced into the attack and he struck by getting the wicket of Shahrukh Khan for a duck as Punjab were left tottering at 92 for 6.
Odean Smith and Harpreet Brar took Punjab’s total beyond the triple-figure mark in the 14th over. Umesh Yadav was once again introduced into the attack and the Nagpur lad struck twice to dismiss Harpreet Brar for 14 and Rahul Chahar for 0 to take his tally to four wickets for 23 runs.
Just when it seemed that KKR will run over Punjab’s batting line-up Kagiso Rabada showed some fight hitting Southee for consecutive boundaries and a six in the 17th over.
In the next over Rabada gave a similar sort of treatment to Shivam Mavi. Rabada’s restrain finally came to an end as Andre Russell dismissed him for 25 from 16 balls and in the next ball, Arshdeep Singh was run out as Punjab Kings folded for 137 in 18.2 overs.
Brief Scores: Punjab Kings 137/10 in 18.2 overs (Bhanuka Rajapaksa 31, Kagiso Rabada 25; Umesh Yadav 4/23) VS Kolkata Knight Riders 141/4 in 14.3 overs (Andre Russell 70*, Shreyas Iyer 26, Sam Billings 248; Rahul Chahar 2/13)