IPL 2021, KKR vs PBKS as it happened: Rahul, Shahrukh star in tense win for PBKS

PBKS 168/5 after 19.3 overs: Punjab win it! They have beaten KKR by 5 wickets. Shahrukh the star with 22 runs off 9 balls. Tripathi had a chance to take the catch but fumbled it on the boundary line and helped it over the line for a six.

PBKS 162/5 after 19.2 overs: WICKET! Rahul caught on the boundary line. Iyer gets the wicket. Punjab Kings need 4 runs in 4 balls now. Rahul c Shivam Mavi b Venkatesh Iyer 67(55)

PBKS 161/4 after 19 overs: Four off the first ball but a great comeback by Mavi after that right until the last ball which is hit for four. Off-pace is the way to go but Mavi’s quick deliveries were hit for fours. Punjab Kings need 5 runs in 6 balls

PBKS 151/4 after 18 overs: Nine off the over – including a four by Shahrukh. Punjab Kings now need 15 runs in 12 balls. Tense stuff.

PBKS 142/4 after 17 overs: Punjab Kings need 24 runs in 18 balls. Shahrukh Khan was almost dismissed too. Iyer got his hands to the ball right on the boundary line but he failed to lob it back into play.

PBKS 134/4 after 16.3 overs: WICKET! Hooda holes out in the deep. Will Punjab crumble again? Rahul the key. Hooda c Tripathi b Shivam Mavi 3(4)

PBKS 129/3 after 15.3 overs: WICKET! PBKS lose another wicket. Markram holes out it in the deep. Six earlier in the over and now gone. Narine the bowler. Markram c Shubman Gill b Narine 18(16)

PBKS 121/2 after 15 overs: Fifty for KL Rahul. But only half the job done. He has to take his team home. Can’t leave this to anyone else. Five overs to go.

PBKS 109/2 after 14 overs: Time for a strategic timeout that both teams can use. Punjab Kings need 57 runs in 36 balls. Rahul’s wicket is the key here as the others have shown that they can crumble under pressure.

PBKS 103/2 after 13 overs: 11 runs off the Iyer over. A good one for Punjab. Five singles and one six in the over – it was in the slot for Rahul and he deposited it beyond the boundary line.

PBKS 92/2 after 12 overs: Seven runs off the Nitish Rana over. Will be interesting to see if he gets more over and how Punjab play him. PBKS need 74 runs in 48 balls.

PBKS 84/2 after 10.4 overs: WICKET! Mavi takes the catch and Pooran’s poor run continues. Chakaravarthy gets the wicket. Punjab will start to feel the pressure soon. Pooran c Shivam Mavi b Chakaravarthy 12(7)

PBKS 76/1 after 10 overs: DROPPED! Now, Tripathi drops one. Pooran survives. Straight through. Second dropped chance by KKR and Pooran can hurt them. He hasn’t had the best tournament but it doesn’t take long.

PBKS 70/1 after 8.5 overs: WICKET! This time Morgan holds on. A good catch. Agarwal walking back after making 40 off 27. The innings has given Punjab some solid momentum. Mayank c Morgan b Chakaravarthy 40(27)

PBKS 63/0 after 8 overs: Venkatesh Iyer into the attack and it all seemed to be going well until a high full toss gave Agarwal a free hit, which was promptly dispatched for a six.

PBKS 51/0 after 7 overs: Punjab would have liked a few more good overs at this point but for now they haven’t lost wickets and that is good enough.

PBKS 46/0 after 6 overs: 13 runs off Narine’s first over and it is just the end that PBKS would have wanted to the Powerplay overs.

PBKS 33/0 after 5 overs: Spin into the attack for the first time and the PBKS openers play out Chakravarthy carefully. Asking rate is just a touch under 9 at the moment.

PBKS 30/0 after 4 overs: Brilliant over by Mavi – just five runs off it and keeps the pressure on Punjab.

PBKS 25/0 after 3 overs: Agarwal continues to chance his arm and that is allowing Rahul to take his time in the middle. A six and a four (for Rahul) in the Southee over.

PBKS 13/0 after 2 overs: Very decent start by Mavi. Agarwal got a four in the over but the bat turned in his hand as he hit it. Didn’t get the timing right.

PBKS 7/0 after 1 over: Agarwal lucky to still be in the middle. He got a life in the first over itself. Couldn’t keep the drive down. Hit it straight to the fielder. Straight in and straight out. Morgan drops a sitter. The batsman added salt to the wounds by hitting a four off the fifth ball.

KKR 165/7 after 20 overs: Karthik dismissed off the last ball and KKR finish with 165/7. It is a competitive total but also ensures that Punjab will stay interested. It is a slowish wicket.

KKR 156/5 after 18.4 overs: WICKET! Seifert is run out by Shami off his own bowling. Tried to go through for a quick single. They attempted a similar run two balls and managed to get an overthrow. Didn’t work this time. Seifert run out (Shami) 2(4)

KKR 149/5 after 17.4 overs: WICKET! KKR needed a big over and Nitish Rana got it for them before being caught in the deep. Rana gone after scoring 31 off 18 balls. Nitish Rana c Mayank b Arshdeep Singh 31(18)

KKR 137/4 after 17 overs: 12 runs off the last over from Ellis. The pacer was taken for 46 off his 4 over and that has hurt Punjab. Three overs to go, can KKR get to 160?

KKR 124/4 after 15.5 overs: WICKET! KL Rahul getting Shami back into the attack and it works. Morgan walked across the stumps, missed a straight delivery and was trapped LBW. The KKR skipper’s poor run with the bat continues. Morgan lbw b Shami 2(2)

Time for the second strategic break. KKR are 121/3 after 15 overs. Can Morgan and Karthik get them close to 160?

KKR 120/3 after 14.4 overs: WICKET! Bishnoi gets his second wicket and Iyer is walking back. Caught in the deep after a superb 67. He connected well but hit it straight to the fielder. Nine fours and a six in the knock. Venkatesh Iyer c Hooda b Ravi Bishnoi 67(49)

KKR 115/2 after 14 overs: 11 runs from the Ellis over. The right-armer continues to be expensive (30-34-0). Iyer is still picking out the gaps well and he got another two fours in the over to reach 67 off 47 balls.

KKR 104/2 after 13 overs: Fifty for Iyer — off just 39 balls. Another splendid knock! This is just his fifth IPL game and he is playing like a pro.

KKR 90/2 after 11.3 overs: WICKET! Bishnoi strikes to send back the dangerous Tripathi (34). The right-hander was caught in the deep. He went for the slog sweep and didn’t get the timing right. Tripathi c Hooda b Ravi Bishnoi 34(26)

KKR 88/1 after 11 overs: Tripathi and Iyer keep the running coming. The partnership is already worth 70 off 52 and it has been a smart stand so far.

KKR 76/1 after 10 overs: Bishnoi starts well after the break. Just three runs off the over. Exactly what Punjab would have wanted.

KKR 73/1 after 9 overs: A six off the first ball of the Allen over for Tripathi made it a good over for KKR, who now have a very good base to build on. What will the second half of the innings bring?

KKR 63/1 after 8 overs: Iyer keeps getting the odd four every over and even though Punjab are bowling well, his knock is maintaining the balance. Superb batting this!

KKR 55/1 after 7 overs: Seven runs from the Allen over. One nice four for Iyer, who rocked back on the back foot and forced that through the leg-side.

KKR 48/1 after 6 overs: Two fours for Iyer in the last Powerplay over. Ellis into the attack and he landed his slower balls well but the left-hander was upto the challenge. Not a spectacular Powerplay but KKR have done decently enough. Iyer on 27 off 19 balls and Tripathi 12 (10) are in the middle.

KKR 37/1 after 5 overs: Another steady over for PBKS. Arshdeep has been doing a good job. One four in the over but little else.

KKR 30/1 after 4 overs: The wicket has pegged KKR back a bit and the ball is jagging around a bit as well. Batting isn’t very easy at the moment. But Tripathi gets a four off the last ball of the Shami over.

KKR 18/1 after 2.2 overs: WICKET! Arshdeep sends back Gill with an absolute beauty. Ball came back in and went between the big gap between bat and pad. A flaw that had crept into Gill’s game. Shubman Gill b Arshdeep Singh 7 (7)

KKR 17/0 after 2 overs: Solid over from Shami but KKR still get seven runs off it. A lovely four in the over that will do Gill’s confidence a world of good.

KKR 10/0 after 1 over: PBKS start off with Allen and Iyer starts off with a four. KKR are not going to hold back and this over is going to help.

Teams: Three changes for PBKS. Gayle, Mandeep and Brar are out. Fabian, Mayank and Shahrukh come in. Changes for KKR too. Russell is missing. Ferguson and Warrier out. Seifert and Mavi come in.

Kolkata Knight Riders XI: S Gill, V Iyer, N Rana, R Tripathi, E Morgan, D Karthik, T Seifert, S Narine, T Southee, V Chakaravarthy, S Mavi

Punjab Kings XI: KL Rahul, M Agarwal, A Markram, N Pooran, D Hooda, F Allen, S Khan, N Ellis, R Bishnoi, M Shami, A Singh

Toss: KL Rahul wins the toss and PBKS are going to bowl first.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of match no 45 of IPL 2021. The in-form Kolkata Knight Riders take on the inconsistent Punjab Kings in a must-win encounter at the Dubai International Stadium.

KKR have played a very aggressive brand of cricket ever since the start of phase 2 and when it does come off, they are pretty much unstoppable. Their mystery spinners, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, are working very well in tandem and that is giving Eoin Morgan’s an added edge.

PBKS missed Mayank Agarwal in the last game and if he does return, it will give them a big boost. With Chris Gayle pulling out of the tournament completely due to bubble fatigue, PBKS will need to find a way to stop crumbling under pressure. The onus will once again be on KL Rahul to show the way forward.