ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, CMC – West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine kept his cool in a nerve-wracking last over to earn Kolkata Knight Riders their fourth win in six outings with a two-run victory over Nicholas Pooran’s Kings XI Punjab here yesterday.
With Kings XI needing 14 from the last six balls of the contest at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in pursuit of 165, the veteran Trinidadian gave up 11 runs, leaving Kings XI still bottom of the Indian Premier League standings with a single win in six matches.
Australian Glenn Maxwell (10 not out) scampered two of the first ball before missing a swing at the second but connected with the third delivery to gather a boundary to extra cover.
However, Narine held him to a leg bye off the fourth delivery before getting Mandeep Singh to hole out to deep mid-wicket off the fifth ball without scoring.
Needing a six off the final ball to force a super over, Maxwell’s lofted shot over cover landed agonisingly inches inside the ropes, as Kings XI finished on 162 for five off their 20 overs.
Narine finished with two for 28 but it was new ball seamer Prasidh Krishna who spearheaded the attack with three for 29.
Kings XI had seemed en route to victory when captain KL Rahul struck 74 off 58 balls and Mayank Agarwal, 56 off 39, in a 115-run opening stand.
When Agarwal holed out to deep mid-wicket off Krishna at the start of the 15th over, Pooran (16) arrived to sustain the tempo in a 29-run, second wicket stand with Rahul.
The left-hander belted two fours and a six in his 10-ball stay at the crease before he was bowled off-stump by Narine in the 18th, missing a cross-batted heave at his international teammate and fellow countryman.
Earlier, KKR posted 164 for six off their 20 overs without any major contribution from Andre Russell who made just five batting at number six.
Captain Dinesh Karthik top-scored with 58 from 29 balls while opener Shubman Gill struck 57 from 47 balls, the pair putting on 82 for the fourth wicket to pull their side around from 63 for three in the 11th over.
Russell entered at the end of the 18th over at the fall of Shubman’s wicket but lasted just three balls, edging 21-year-old seamer Arshdeep Singh behind.
In the other game played, veteran West Indies all-rounder, Dwayne Bravo, had little impact with bat or ball as Chennai Super Kings went down to Royal Challengers Bangalore by 37 runs in Dubai.
