Live Cricket Score: KKR vs PBKS, Match 53, IPL 2023

Kolkata Knight Riders 182-5 (20 Ovs)

Shardul Thakur  0 (0)

Punjab Kings 179-7

Sam Curran  3-0-44-0

Kolkata Knight Riders won by 5 wkts

KKR WIN BY 5 WICKETS

Arshdeep Singh bowled a fine last over, but eventually a low full-toss off the last ball was dispatched to the boundary by Rinku Singh to power Kolkata Knight Riders to their fifth victory of the season - which has elevated them to the fifth position on the points table, equal on points with four other teams.

Overs 10-15: KKR 122/3

Nitish Rana has propped up the chase once again with a quickfire knock and is one short of a fifty. Venkatesh Iyer failed to get going as the spinners gained a stranglehold throughthe middle overs at least at one end. But Rana's knock has kept KKR in the hunt still.

Overs 6-10: KKR 76/2

PBKS have managed to pulls things back in this period particularly so after Brar had the rampaging Roy caught on the sweep at deepmidwicket. Roy's 24-ball 38 was the driving force behind KKR's onslaught in the powerplay, but it has ensured that the hosts still have a good base to kick on from.

POWERPLAY - 52/1

Jason Roy has ended the Poweplay with a couple of boundaries to help KKR to a steady start. The scoring rate has picked following the dismissal of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and the hosts would be happy with the stable platform provided by the top-order. Gurbaz was the only batter to depart, trapped legbefore to a straight yorker by Nathan Ellis.

END OF INNINGS - 179/7 IN 20 OVERS

A late blitz by Shahrukh Khan and Harpreet Brar allowed PBKS to add 36 runs in the last two overs and help the side to a competitive total. The duo added 40 runs in 16 balls for the unbeaten eighth wicket stand. The pitch has played slightly slow with some assistance for the spinners which had strangled PBKS' scoring through the middle overs - after having made a strong start

FIFTY FOR SHIKHAR DHAWAN - 117/4 in 14 overs

Shikhar Dhawan may have reached the landmark with quite an authoritative shot, going down the track and clubbing Sunil Narine for a six. However, his innings has struggled to keep pace as it has progressed. The KKR spin trio of Varun Chakravarthy, Narine and Suyash Sharma have managed to keep a leash of PBKS' scoring rate so far.

POWERPLAY - 58/3

Punjab Kings' decision to go after the KKR bowlers right from the start may have got the side off to a fairly quick start, but in losing three important wickets, they have found themselves on the backfoot slightly at the end of the Powerplay. Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Liam Livingstone are back in the dugout. However, Shikhar Dhawan is off to a strong start. He now has the company of Jitesh Sharma to revive PBKS' innings.

STAT ALERT: Eighth time in 11 games, PBKS have lost one of their openers inside the second over

TOSS

Punjab Kings have won the toss and elected to bat. They have made one change to their side. Bhanuka Rajapaksa comes in place of Matthew Short. KKR remain unchanged.

Teams

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy

Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Prabhsimran Singh, Shikhar Dhawan (c), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sam Curran, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Rishi Dhawan, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh

BUILD UP

Hello and welcome to Match 53 of the Indian Premier League, set to be played between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings. The results of the last few games has opened up the points table in a way that every team stands in with a possibility of qualifying for the playoffs. Thus, irrespective of how the campaign has panned out so far, both teams would look to make a late dash in the season.

KKR have had plenty of battles with injuries to deal with this season, and their record at home hasn't been too inspiring either. But can they overcome the odds to beat the visitors tonight at Eden Gardens?

We will be bringing you the live updates from the KKR vs PBKS contest. You can join in as well with your questions and views. Tweet to us using #CricbuzzQnV.