A superb all-round performance from Andre Russell helped Kolkata Knight Riders to an easy four-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday night.
Russell, the West Indies international, took two Punjab wickets for 39 runs in his four-over spell with his medium pace before rescuing his side with the bat as he hit 66 runs from just 36 balls as Kolkata won with 13 balls to spare at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.
Kolkata won the toss and captain Gautam Gambhir opted to bat first. It was a decision that paid off as his bowlers accounted for the top order with just 27 runs on the board. It took a brilliant 60 from George Bailey, Gambhir’s opposite number, for Punjab to climb out of the hole they had dug themselves into.
The target of 156 seemed to be a stiff for Kolkata as they lost half their side for just 60. That was when Russell stepped out and took the match away from the home team. The right-hander received good support from fellow all-rounder Yusuf Pathan who remained unbeaten on 28.
Kolkata are now third in the IPL table.
JP Duminy starts up Delhi Daredevils and Nathan Coulter-Nile finishes it for win
Earlier in the day, Nathan Coulter-Nile took the ball in the final over on Saturday needing to keep Sunrisers Hyderabad from scoring nine runs to let Delhi Daredevils hold on for a win.
He kept them to six.
Coulter-Nile (1-26 in four overs) took a wicket in the over and ran out Asish Reddy as Delhi topped Hyderabad by four runs for their second successive win after losing their opening two matches in the Indian Premier League.
It was the third loss in four matches for Sunrisers, who saw Karn Sharma (19) caught out by Angelo Mathews on the final ball needing four runs for at least a draw.
Coulter-Nile merely provided the assist in the final over, however, for a man-of-the-match performance from JP Duminy.
Duminy took four wickets for just 17 runs in only three overs, crucially dropping David Warner (28) caught and bowled, Shikhar Dhawan (18) and Eoin Morgan (1) bowled and Ravi Bopara (41) caught out, as well as catching out Naman Ojha (12) from an Imran Tahir delivery.
Batting first Delhi built their innings on a 78-run second-wicket partnership between Duminy (54) and Shreyas Iyer (60). Duminy then combined for a 39-run third-wicket stand with Yuvraj Singh before he played a shot into his own stumps on a Dale Steyn delivery.
Angelo Mathews (15) and Kedar Jadhav (19) pushed Delhi to 167-4. Steyn (1-27 in four overs) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-21 in four) were efficient in their spells leading the Hyderabad attack but wickets proved tough to come by.
Sunrisers began well in response, with Dhawan and Warner combining for 50 runs on the first wicket before Duminy felled Dhawan.
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