Kolkata: Nitish Rana and Robin Uthappa slammed half-centuries while all-rounder Andre Russell continued his pyrotechnics with the bat and ball as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Kings XI Punjab by 28 runs to take the pole position of the IPL 2019 points table here at Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
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Batting first KKR posted a mammoth 218/4 against Kings XI Punjab in front of a packed house.
Rana, who scored 68 off 47 balls in KKR's win against SRH, slammed 63 off 34 balls as Uthappa blossomed in his company with a well-timed unbeaten 67 before Man of the Match winner Russell virtually took the game away from KXIPwith a 17-ball 48. In KKR's season opener Russell played unbeaten 49 runs innings against SRH.
In response to mammoth 219 runs target, KXIP were restricted to 190 for 4 in 20 overs. David Miller and Mayank Agarwal scored 59 and 58 runs respectively for the visitors. But, their efforts went in vain.
For KKR Russell was the pick of the bowler as he tookimportant wickets on Chris Gayle and Sarfaraz Khan giving just 21 runs in three overs. Though Prasidh Krishna and Lockie Ferguson proved expensivespinners were standout performers for KKR. Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav and Piyush Chawla went wicketless but kept KXIP batsmen in check.
The visitors could have checked KKR's run flow when Mohammed Shami castled Russell when he was on 3, only to find the umpire calling it a no-ball as there were only three fielders inside the circle.
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Russell made the most of his second life by bludgeoning Andrew Tye for two sixes and two fours in the 18th over as the Australian leaked 22 runs.
Russell, who smacked an 18-ball 49 in the last match, then hit Shami for three back-to-back sixes and a four in the next over, taking KKR past the 200-mark, before getting out in the last over off Tye.
Russell and Uthappa joined hands for a 32-ball 67-run fourth wicket stand as KKR amassed 71 runs in the last five overs.
