Indian Premier League 2024

'Can't lose when you have 2 lords at the crease' - Fans react to KKR's thrilling last-ball triumph over PBKS in IPL 2023

Kolkata Knight Riders climbed to fifth place in the points table with a thrilling five-wicket win over Punjab Kings on Monday.

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Akshay
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KKR vs PBKS IPL 2023

KKR vs PBKS IPL 2023 (Source: Twitter)

KKR vs PBKS IPL 2023 KKR vs PBKS IPL 2023 (Source: Twitter)

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had the last laugh at the Eden Gardens after a thrilling last-ball victory over Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Monday, May 8. The hosts, however, were made to sweat hard, but some magnificent hitting by Andre Russel and Rinku Singh near the end of the chase, as well as Arshadeep Singh's final ball full-toss, helped KKR to secure their fifth win of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.

Opting to bat first, PBKS got off to a poor start, losing three wickets in the batting powerplay: Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, and Liam Livingstone. The early setbacks forced skipper Shikhar Dhawan to take on the anchoring role, with Jitesh Sharma giving him much-needed support with a short cameo. The duo was looking well after building a 50+ partnership, but PBKS spinners struck at the right time to remove both in quick succession.

Dhawan fell to Nitish Rana in the 15th over (57 off 47 balls), after which Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy and Suyash Sharma tightened the screws for the hosts. However, the seamers were unable to maintain the tempo and let up 36 runs in the final two overs to Harpreet Brar and Shahrukh Khan, allowing PBKS to settle for a respectable score of 179-7.

Rinku is involved in yet another last-ball finish for KKR

In reply, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Jason Roy started off well by scoring 38 runs before the former got out in the fifth over. Skipper Nitish Rana promoted himself to the No. 3 and it proved to be a wise decision, as the left-hander hit a superb half-century. Rana built a decent partnership with Roy, but the Englishman was dismissed for 38 runs in the eighth over. Rana then continued the attack with Venkatesh Iyer, but both were quickly sent back.

With KKR needing 51 off the last four overs, Russell and Rinku hit 15 off Nathan Ellis' over, and the former smoked three sixes in Sam Curran's 19th over to get them near to the finish line. The equation went down to 7 in the last over, and Arshdeep held his nerve against the big hitters till the last ball. KKR needed two runs off the penultimate ball, and the left-arm pacer delivered a full toss that Rinku sent for a boundary to give the hosts a thrilling victory.

Here's how fans reacted to KKR's win:

IPL 2023 KKR Punjab Kings