Kolkata Knight Riders kept their hopes alive of reaching the playoff stage beating Kings XI Punjab in a high scoring thriller in the 44th match of VIVO IPL 2018 played at Holkar Stadium, Indore. Winning the toss, Ashwin elected to field first. Contributions from all KKR batsmen helped them to post the highest total of this season. Chasing this target Kings XI Punjab scored 214 runs to lose by 31 runs.
Kings XI captain Ravichandran Ashwin won the toss and elected to field first. KKR openers Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine started slowly but smashed Kings XI Punjab bowlers. Andrew Tye got the wicket of Chris Lynn for 27 runs. Both Narine and Chris Lynn added 53 runs for the first wicket.
At the end of 6 overs, KKR scored 59 for 1. After the powerplay overs, Sunil Narine and Robin Uthappa played aggressive strokes and put pressure on Kings XI Punjab bowlers. Narine made the batting look easy reaching his half-century off 26 balls and continued his aggressive hitting. Andrew Tye dismissed the well-set Sunil Narine for 75 runs. Both Narine and Uthappa added 75 runs for the 2nd wicket.
In the same over, Andrew Tye dismissed Robin Uthappa for 24 runs. Andre Russell and captain Dinesh Karthik continued KKR momentum with some great hitting. Both of them added 76 runs for the 4th wicket. Russell was dismissed for 31 off 14 balls.
Dinesh Karthik played some brilliant shots which put pressure on Kings XI Punjab bowlers. Nitish Rana came and scored 11 off 4 balls. Karthik reached his half-century off 22 balls. Shubman Gill also scored quick fire 16 off 8 balls while Searles also hit a six. KKR made the highest total of this season, scoring 245 for 6 in 20 overs.
For Kings XI Punjab, Andrew Tye was the pick of bowlers taking 4 for 41. It was a great batting display by KKR batsmen who were bowled out for 108 in their previous match against Mumbai Indians.
Chasing 246, Chris Gayle and KL Rahul started on an aggressive note adding 57 runs for the first wicket in 5.4 overs. Gayle was dismissed for 21 off 17 balls. At the end of 6 overs, Kings XI Punjab scored 58 for 2.
After the power play overs, Karun Nair again failed to contribute any runs and was dismissed for 3 runs. KL Rahul continued his aggressive intent and reached his half-century off 22 balls. Kings XI Punjab got into trouble losing the wicket of Rahul for 66.
Aaron Finch made 34 runs off 20 balls and gave hope to Kings XI Punjab. Captain R Ashwin played a quickfire knock scoring 45 off 22 balls. Kings XI Punjab scored 214 for 8 in 20 overs.
KKR 245 for 6 in 20 overs ( Sunil Narine 75, Dinesh Karthik 50, Andre Russell 31, Andrew Tye 4/41) beat
KXIP 214 for 8 in 20 overs ( KL Rahul 66, R Ashwin 45, Aaron Finch 34, Andre Russell 3/41, Prasidh Krishna 2/31) by 31 runs.
KXIP captain R Ashwin said: It was a great batting performance by KKR bowlers. Mujeeb Ur Rahman injury did not help us. Sunil Narine took the game away from us while Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik showed their class and scored a massive total of 245. Andrew Tye bowled well but the score was too big to reach. KL Rahul batted well but there was no support from other batsmen.
 KKR captain Dinesh Karthik said: It was a brilliant effort by our batsmen to post a big total of 245. After the batting performance against Mumbai Indians, we talked about it in the dressing room and the team responded in grand style. With two games to go, we need to play to continue the aggressive batting in coming matches.
