KKR one it and how

Hosts Kolkaka Knight Riders win last-ball thriller by a run to hand bottom-placed Royal Challengers Bengaluru sixth consecutive defeat

A dramatic final over, complete with a lunge for a run-out off the last ball, left the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) winners over Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by the slenderest of margins at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. The victory put the Knights back on the second rung of the league ladder while RCB were left staring at the exit gate of IPL-17 after their seven loss in eight matches.

The visitors come close

The Knights, having seen their mammoth total of 223 overwhelmed by Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday, had their heart in the mouth as RCB, despite the early loss of Virat Kohli and skipper Faf du Plessis, came tantalisingly close to inflicting another heart-breaking defeat. The visitors actually had their nose in front through the rousing chase, and were 192-7 after the1 8th over while KKR were 186 for 6 at that stage, but they failed to in that final push.

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RCB’s Karn Sharma wears a dejected look after being dismissed in the last over

Andre Russell conceded just 10 in the crucial 19th over while removing the dangerous Dinesh Karthik, but Karn Sharma hoisted Mitchell Starc for three sixes in the final over to put them back on course. Starc held a fine return catch to send Sharma (20 off 7) back. It left RCB to get three off the last ball. Lockie Ferguson cut to point but failed to beat wicket-keeper Phil Salt’s lunge to the wicket as he returned for the second run.

“If I have to choose a turning point, it has to be that Russell over when he took those two wickets [top-scorers Will Jacks and Rajat Patidar]. But, then, also we bowled pretty well,” Rana said after the match. Reece Topley too pointed to that Russell over.

Phil Salt on fire

Earlier, Salt went berserk from the very onset after KKR were put into bat, going after Dayal and then cutting loose when Fergusson replaced the left-arm bowler. Salt sent every delivery from the Kiwi pacer beyond the boundary, two of them for sixes, as the fourth over fetched 28. He fell, caught in the deep, for a 14-ball 48 that had seven boundaries and three sixes.

After lukewarm middle-overs, KKR managed some big ones at the back end to take their total well past 200. Skipper Shreyas Iyer added 40 off 29 for the fourth wicket with Rinku Singh and 42 off 27 for the fifth with Andre Russell. When he fell, new man Ramandeep Singh and Russell had an unfinished partnership of 43 off 16. The final four overs brought 67. When RCB replied, Kohli began on an ominous note but departed in bizzare fashion in the third over. Skipper du Plessis fell in the next over but RCB kept fighting till the end.

Brief scores
KKR 222-6 in 20 overs (S Iyer 50, P Salt 48; C Green 2-35, Y Dayal 2-56) beat RCB 221 all out in 20 overs (W Jacks 55, R Patidar 52; A Russell 3-25, H Rana 2-33, S Narine 2-34) by one run

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