In the 53rd match of IPL 2023, Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Punjab Kings by five wickets. This was Kolkata’s fifth win and Punjab’s sixth defeat in this tournament. Punjab Kings scored 179 runs for seven wickets while batting first in this match. Shikhar Dhawan scored the highest score of 57 runs.
In response, Kolkata Knight Riders scored 182 runs for the loss of five wickets and won the match in the last ball. Captain Nitish Rana scored the highest 51 runs for Kolkata.
Nitish Rana scored 51 off 38 balls. After his dismissal, Andre Russell and Rinku Singh batted strongly. Russell was run out for 42 off 23 balls in the last over. At the same time, Rinku remained unbeaten on 21 off 10 balls. He gave his team victory by hitting a four in the last ball.
Everyone praised the performance of Rinku Singh. Joining the list, former Indian cricketer and renowned Aakash Chopra lauded Rinku Singh’s knock and claimed him as the best finisher.
“RRR – first comes Rana, then comes Russell, and in the end comes Rinku, the best finisher in town. It doesn’t make a difference to him. He doesn’t feel any pressure. The guy once again won the match by hitting a four. Now he has developed the habit of winning games,” said Aakash Chopra.
“Nitish Rana scored a fifty. Andre Russell was promoted slightly up the order. This team is not saying that Andre Russell is just a finisher and then Andre in, ball out. He was brilliant, and so was Rinku Singh in the end,” he further added.
How to play on Dream11 ?
Now both teams have played 11 matches, and both have 10 points. However, with a better run rate, Kolkata is fifth, and Punjab is seventh. After this match, the playoff race has become more interesting. Now five teams have lost in six matches. At the same time, six teams have won five matches.
The road to the playoffs is a bit easy for Gujarat and Chennai, but there is tough competition for two places between the remaining eight teams. In such a situation, the upcoming few matches will be decisive for all the teams.
