Andre Russell and Rinku Singh played a starring role to help Kolkata Knight Riders to a five-wicket win over Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League on Monday evening.
At 124-4 while chasing 180 for victory, Kolkata appeared to be in trouble, but Russell and Rinku, who hit an unbeaten 21 off 10 balls, put together a destructive partnership of 54 to win by five wickets at their home Eden Gardens.
Russell hit three sixes off England’s left-arm quick Sam Curran in the nineteenth over, but he was run out on the penultimate delivery with Kolkata needing two runs off the final ball.
Rinku, who became an IPL sensation by smashing five sixes in the final five balls of a match-winning innings for Kolkata last month, hit the winning boundary off Arshdeep Singh.
“I didn’t think about the last ball. Even when I hit those five sixes, I hadn’t thought much,” said an elated Rinku.
“I was playing on the merit of the ball. I had the belief in me that I could finish the game.”
Man of the match Russell said, “When I have Rinku at the other end I am not worried. I have confidence in him. I get goosebumps when I see what he is doing now. I have company at the backend.”
Kolkata climbed from eighth to fifth in the 10-team table, which is led by the defending champions Gujarat Titans, as teams vie for the final four spots in the playoffs.
A few wickets set Kolkata back after England’s Jason Roy, who came in as a replacement player, gave the home team a solid start with his 38 off 24 balls, but captain Nitish Rana set up the chase with his 51.
However, the Russell-Rinku duo tore through the opposition’s bowling attack as Kolkata scored 53 runs in the final four overs to earn their fifth victory in 11 matches.
As Punjab reached 179-7, spinner Varun Chakravarthy secured the victory with bowling figures of 3-26, including the crucial wicket of Liam Livingstone, lbw for 15.
In the final two overs, skipper Shikhar Dhawan and late cameos added 36 runs to Punjab’s total, but it was not enough.
Harshit Rana provided early breakthroughs, including dismissing Bhanuka Rajapaksa for a duck for Sri Lanka.
Chakravarthy and Suyash, who caught Curran lbw behind four for Punjab, combined to stifle the run rate with their leg spin.
The left-handed Dhawan reached his third fifty of the season before being dismissed in the 15th over, despite receiving little assistance from the other end.
