262 - Punjab Kings against Kolkata Knight Riders in Kolkata in IPL 2024

259 - South Africa against West Indies in Centurion in 2023

253 - Middlesex against Surrey at The Oval in T20 Blast 2023

244 - Australia against New Zealand at Auckland in 2018

243 - Bulgaria against Serbia in Sofia in 2022

243 - Multan Sultans against Peshawar Zalmi in Rawalpindi in PSL 2023

Punjab Kings have defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 8 wickets. They have registered the highest-ever successful chase in T20 history for the win. This is a much-much special win for PBKS.

PBKS 262/2 (18.4)

This is absolute carnage from Punjab Kings. Harshit Rana has been hit for 25 runs in the penultimate over. Punjab Kings need 9 runs in 12 balls.

PBKS 253/2 (18)

Shashank Singh slammed three sixes in the over of Dushmantha Chameera and Punjab Kings are well and truly strong in this chase. They need 34 runs in 18 balls. It is gettable as PBKS have 8 wickets in hand. What a game this is!

Jonny Bairstow has raced to his century in 45 balls. What a knock this has been from the Punjab Kings opener! However, the work is not done yet. He should stand there and finish this game for his side. PBKS need 52 runs in 24 balls.

Only 5 runs came off Sunil Narine's last over. Jonny Bairstow and Shashank Singh managed to save their wickets in the over. Punjab Kings need 61 runs in 30 balls. With a set opener at the crease and also eight wickets in hand, this is PBKS' match to lose. 

PBKS 201/2 (15)

Punjab Kings are going really smartly in this chase. Shashank Singh slammed Varun Chakaravarthy for two consecutive sixes in the first two balls of the over. Once the asking rate dropped under 11, Shashank went on to look for singles and doubles. PBKS need 66 runs in 36 balls.

First he starred with the bat and now Sunil Narine is making an impact with the ball. He has got the wicket of Rilee Rossouw. Punjab Kings need 84 runs in 45 balls.

Varun Chakaravarthy was smashed for 17 runs in the 11th over and Andre Russell followed him with a 24-run over. Jonny Bairstow has put PBKS in superb control in this mammoth chase of 262. Punjab Kings need 89 runs in 48 balls. The target seems gettable now.

PBKS 173/1 (12)

This is the first time in IPL history that openers from both the teams have registered a fifty-plus score. Sunil Narine and Phil Salt did it in the first innings of this game, while Prabhsimran Singh and Jonny Bairstow to crossed the mark in second innings. Punjab Kings need 130 runs in 60 balls.

Jonny Bairstow raced to his half-century on the fifth ball of the 9th over with a six. It didn't come right from the middle of of Bairstow's bat but the long-off dropped the tough chance. The ball eventually sailed over the fence for a six. Punjab Kings need 142 runs in 66 balls.

PBKS 120/1 (9)

This is what makes Sunil Narine special. He saw an opportunity there and bowled an economical over. Only one run came off it and the asking rate is close to 13 now for Punjab Kings. They need 168 runs in 78 balls.

That is poor running from the PBKS openers and Prabhsimran Singh is gone. What a horrible way to get out! Bairstow got an inside edge on the final ball of Anukul Roy's over and the PBKS batters wanted to steal a single. A direct hit from Sunil Narine at the striker's end saw Prabhsimran being run out. Punjab Kings need 169 runs in 84 balls.

Prabhsimran Singh races to his half-century in 18 balls. He slammed Sunil Narine for a four and a six in the first two deliveries of his over to reach the milestone. 

Prabhsimran Singh has set the tone for PBKS' chase with a sensational start. He is batting on 36 off 13 balls. 23 runs came off Dushmantha Chameera's second over and KKR are under pressure now.

PBKS 45/0 (3)

8 runs came off the first over of the PBKS innings. Dushmantha Chameera bowled the over.

KKR have posted their second-highest total in the history of IPL. The Shreyas Iyer-led side has put 261 runs on the board. Meanwhile, this is the highest score at the Eden Gardens.

Arshdeep Singh claimed the wicket of Shreyas Iyer in it. A total of 10 runs came off the over. KKR are only one run away from the 250-run mark. Harshal Patel will bowl the final over of the innings. Here we go...

KKR 249/4 (19)

Sam Curran conceded only two singles off the first two balls but what followed was absolute carnage from Shreyas Iyer. He slammed the PBKS stand in captain for three sixes and a four in the remaining four balls.

KKR 239/3 (18)

KKR are scoring at 12.65 runs per over. They have Shreyas and Venkatesh in the crease with Angkrish and Rinku yet to come. The side can target a total of 250 plus as it has enough batting fire power. 

Arshdeep Singh bowled an expensive over but managed to get the wicket of Andre Russell in it. 16 runs came off the over. Russell got out on the third legal delivery of the over. It was s short ball directly at the body of Russell and the batter top-edged it.

KKR 206/3 (16)

This is good bowling from Rahul Chahar. He conceded only 7 runs in the over. Someone between Andre Russell and Venkatesh Iyer needs to charge now as KKR should maintain their dominance after such a solid batting so far.

A big big wicket for PBKS. Philip Salt hammered Sam Curran for two consecutive sixes before the PBKS stand-in skipper took his revenge. Curran bowled a fast yorker to rattle the off stump of Salt, who fell for 75 off 37 balls.

Only seven runs came off the Rahul Chahar over and a big wicket of Sunil Narine. On the second bal of the over, Narine failed to time his shot well and that fell into the hands of Bairstow at long-on. The KKR opener fell for 71 off 32.

Harshal Patel, under pressure, bowled a delivery even outside the pitch. As per the rules of cricket, it was given a no-ball by the umpire. A total of 19 runs came off the over.

A brilliant review from Sunil Narine helped him save his wicket after umpire raised his finger over an LBW appeal. Later in the over, Phil Salt raced to his half-century. 

Sunil Narine raced to his half-century in 23 balls in the over of Kagiso Rabada that saw KKR fetching 22 runs. After Narine slammed the fifty, KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan gave a thumbs up to the bowler.

KKR 105/0 (8)

On the fifth ball of Rahul Chahar's over, Kagiso Rabada dropped Philip Salt's catch which was the third drop by PBKS in this innings. Their fielding has been really poor tonight. 

This is just another flying start for KKR. Sunil Narine is batting on 38 off 15 while Phil Salt is on 35 off 21. This partnership is now turning out to be too dangerous for PBKS. They need a breakthrough to bounce back, they badly need it.

32 runs have come off the last two overs for KKR. Kagiso Rabada was hit for 21 before Sam Curran followed it up with an 11-run over.

Harshal Patel leaked 18 runs in his first over. Philip Salt slammed two sixes and a four in the over.

Two poor balls in the over against Sunil Narine and Arshdeep Singh paid the price of it. The first one was a short ball that was pulled over square leg for a six by Narine while the next one was a slower full toss that was hit over the mid-on for a four.  

Sam Curran bowled smartly in the first over and that saw him conceding only 7 runs in it. Despite trying a lot, Sunil Narine could hit only one four in the over.

Sam Curran with the new ball in hand. Phil Salt is on strike. Here we go... It's a dot ball to start with for Curran. A back of length ball on the stumps and Salt was happy to defend it.

Punjab Kings: Prabhsimran Singh, Rishi Dhawan, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Shivam Singh, Prince Choudhary

Kolkata Knight Riders: Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, Vaibhav Arora, Rahmanullah Gurbaz

Punjab Kings: Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran(c), Rilee Rossouw, Jitesh Sharma(w), Shashank Singh, Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh

Kolkata Knight Riders: Philip Salt(w), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Dushmantha Chameera, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana

PBKS stand-in captain Sam Curran said: "We will have a bowl. We had 4 games at home, unfortunately lost all four, guys are ready for the away games though. We know what we need to do from here, just go out and play. Liam Livingstone misses out, Jonny Bairstow is back."

KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer said: "We've had different players stepping up at different times, that's the thing I'm pleased about this season. Starcy got a cut on his finger in the last game, Dushmantha Chameera replaces him. Need a great start and then convert it into a big score, hoping to continue the same form and momentum."

Punjab Kings stand-in captain Sam Curran wins toss, opts to bowl against Kolkata Knight Riders in an IPL 2024 match.

Only Venkatesh Iyer's poor form has stuck out like a sore thumb and Nitish Rana's finger fracture has not only robbed KKR of a master player of spinners but also a very handy off-break bowler.

While KKR top-order has done the bulk of their scoring, it's the opposite in case of Punjab Kings who have struggled to get it going from the outset. The likes of Prabhsimran Singh, Liam Livingstone, Rilee Rossouw and Jonny Bairstow have failed to get into the act. It's their uncapped duo of Ashustosh and Shashank who have salvaged the team from precarious situations with their astonishing powerhitting.

Serious laughs ahead
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Starc has looked unidimensional, relying more on pace and has been reluctant to bowl the slower ones as the batters have negotiated him easily especially in the death overs. For KKR to go all the way, Starc will have to get his mojo back and play a lead role in the bowling department, for the likes of Narine and Varun Chakravarthy to dominate in the middle overs. This is one area PBKS would like to exploit as they would look to return to winning ways.

Compared to Starc, uncapped India pacers Harshit Rana (ER 9.25, 9 wickets) and Vaibhav Arora (9.57, 7 wickets) have been more impressive but they have also got hit at times. Against a side like Kings with some power-hitters at the back-end, a better performance will be warranted from the bowling unit.

It is Starc, whose underwhelming performance (6 wickets at ER 11.48) is the worst among the specialist bowlers in the KKR camp. At an all-time high price tag of Rs 24.75 crore (USD 3 million), Starc must be feeling the heat but to be fair to him, some of the tracks, including the one at the Eden Gardens have been perfect belters where length balls are soaring into the stands.

Sunil Narine with his immaculate line and length is the only person in the KKR's bowling unit, who has been able to maintain an economy rate of just above 7.10 which is brilliant in times when 'Impact Player' is in vogue. The Trinidadian has also started leaking runs and the way Rajat Patidar took him on, hitting him for two sixes in one over, will definitely inspire the likes of Ashutosh and Shashank -- the two in-form batters of PBKS.

Sunil Narine (286 @176.54 SR) and Phil Salt (249 @169.38 SR) have been phenomenal at the top, Andre Russell (155 @184.52), skipper Shreyas Iyer (190 @126.66) have all been among the runs. Even Rinku Singh, who has just faced 67 balls in 7 games has a strike-rate of close to 160. Save captain Iyer, all the specialist batters have scored at a strike-rate northwards of 150 and that has been instrumental in the Shah Rukh Khan co-owned team posting four 200-plus totals in their seven games so far.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Shreyas Iyer (c), KS Bharat, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain and Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Matthew Short, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Sikandar Raza, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Shivam Singh, Harshal Patel, Chris Woakes, Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Shashank Singh, Tanay Thyagarajan, Prince Choudhary, Rilee Rossouw.

In Punjab Kings, KKR meet a side that has been inconsistent and despite two good finds in Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma, they haven't exactly done well during key moments and like every other year, they are all but out of play-off contention.

KKR are currently second in the 10-team table with 10 points, four behind table toppers Rajasthan Royals (14 points) and the team's success is largely due to the batting efforts from the top-order.

Mitchell Starc will be desperate to justify his Rs 24.75 crore price tag as Kolkata Knight Riders' bowling unit will be trying to find ways to be less profligate when it is pitted against a perennially under-achieving Kings XI Punjab in an IPL match on Saturday.

Hello everyone, welcome to the live blog of 42nd match of IPL 2024 between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings. Stay connected for all the live updates.

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7:30 PM IST
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