IPL 2023, KKR vs PBKS, Match Highlights: Rinku Singh wins it for KKR, beat PBKS by 5 wickets

A last-ball four from Rinku Singh sealed a five-wicket win for KKR over PBKS on Monday at the Eden Gardens.

Rinku Singh and Andre Russell are keeping KKR alive in the chase as they need 36 from three overs.

KKR captain Nitish Rana departed after scoring 51 as Rahul Chahar gets his second for the day. The hosts now need 56 from 28 balls.

Just after completing a 50-run-stand for the third wicket, Venkatesh Iyer departed. KKR need 65 from 38. Russell comes in now.

Two good overs from KKR have helped them gain little momentum as they need 82 from eight overs with as many wickets left. 

Having completed 50 plus runs in the first six overs, KKR are 76 for two at the halfway mark. They need another 104 from 10 overs.

Left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar picked up opener Jason Roy on 38 as he mistimed one straight to deep mid-wicket. KKR are 64/2.

After Gurbaz's wicket, England's Jason Roy took the onus and helped KKR cross fifty-run-mark after six overs.

KKR openers have deployed a cautious approach as they are looking strong after the end of four overs. The hosts are 36/0.

Arshdeep Singh bowled a lovely over to keep things tight for KKR, who are 10/0 after 2 overs.

Shahrukh Khan and Harpreet Brar scored 36 off last two overs, including 21 in the last over to take PBKS 179, a decent enough total to bowl at. 

Three quick wickets have left PBKS reeling at seven down for just 140, The onus would be on Shahrukh Khan now to score as many in last two overs here.

Shikhar Dhawan has hit another fifty this season but Jitesh Sharma has gone back after adding 53 runs for the fourth wicket with the Skipper. Punjab would now to finish strong as they are about to enter last five overs.

After three early blows, Dhawan and in-form Jitesh Sharma stitch a partnership as Punjab finally get a move on. Still, lots to do but they are going at over 8 RPO. PBKS 82 for 3 after ten overs.

Nitish Rana gave the ball to Andre Russell in the fifth over and Liam Livingstone-Shikhar Dhawan take him on as 19 come off first six deliveries. PBKS get a move on and reach the 50-run mark. Spin from the next over? PBKS 51/2 after five overs. 

Bhanuka Rajapaksa regained his spot in the playing XI but it didn't yield desired results as he fell for a three-ball duck. Harshit Rana strikes once again as KKR are on top in the powerplay overs. The onus firmly on Punjab skipper Shikhar Dhawan to hold this innings together. PBKS 33-2 after four overs.

As expected, it was a good start from Punjab as KKR started with pacers Vaibhav Arora and Harshit Rana before the latter dismissed Prabhsimran Singh for 12 (8), caught behind in the second over. Will KKR introduce spin in the powerplays to further test the Punjab batters' free-flowing approach? PBKS 21-1 after two overs.

Punjab Kings Subs: Nathan Ellis, Sikandar Raza, Atharva Taide, Mohit Rathee, Matthew Short

Kolkata Knight Riders Subs: Jason Roy, Anukul Roy, N Jagadeesan, Lockie Ferguson, Kulwant Khejroliya

Varun Chakravarthy (to the broadcasters): (On his last game heroics) Nitish told me to challenge them on the longer side, and the fact that he backed me gave me a lot of confidence. (On his variations) This season I’m keeping it simple, using three main variations. We need to bowl better at home, it is a challenging ground with a flat wicket. If we can do well here then we might still have a good chance.

Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Prabhsimran Singh, Shikhar Dhawan(c), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Sam Curran, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Rishi Dhawan, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana(c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy

Shikhar Dhawan: We gonna bat first. The wicket looks quite dry, we would like to put a good totaland defend it. That's a good thing that we are scoring 200 every game. One change, Bhanuka comes in place of Short. Seems like it will stop a bit and come.

Nitish Rana: The wicket looks to be on the drier side. We are going with the same team. We wanted to bat first so that spin can come more into play.

At the coin toss, Shikhar Dhawan called it right as Punjab opt to bat first at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Mark Howard and Pommie Mbangwa (on-air): The off-side to the right-handed batter is short tonight, 58 metres but over to the leg-side, it is 71 metres. The average score in first innings is 222 this season. When you look at the pitch, it has kind of a mosaic effect, looks quite hard. It looks a little bit drier than the last time around. It says to me maybe a little more spin for the spinners. The bowlers need to make them hit to the longer square side, be it pace or spin. You got to make sure you change the pace or otherwise you are gonna get lined up on a good surface

Jitesh Sharma: (On the topsy-turvy PBKS season) This is part of the game, but our intent is the same. The process is also the same even if results haven’t gone our way. We have decided to play attacking cricket, and that’s been the plan throughout. (On his personal season) Going good so far, but had a few of those performances ended on winning notes it would have felt better for me. I’m contributing as much as I can for the team. (On playing as a hitter) I observe from outside on what is the bowler’s strength, which bowler is bowling well and what lines are they bowling. I prepare accordingly, stay ready to play certain lengths. I try and stay in the present, just keeping my focus one match at a time.

The clash is surely between KKR's spinners versus PBKS batters. Punjab have posted 200-plus in their last four matches and, thus, they will be confident going into this fixture. However, KKR also beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by five runs with their spinners Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy and Anukul Roy choking the opposition with some tight overs.

An interesting battle awaits...

In match 53, KKR host the PBKS unit. As the points table remains complicated with each passing day, the seventh-ranked Punjab face eighth-positioned Kolkata in another crucial game as we enter the business end of IPL 2023.