KKR vs PBKS, IPL 2022 Highlights: KKR win by 6 wickets with Russell unbeaten on 70 off 31

• Upstox Most Valuable Asset of the Match Award- Andre Russell (70 runs off 31 balls & 1/0 in 0.2 overs)
• Swiggy Fastest Delivery of the Match Award- Umesh Yadav (Bowled at the speed of 141+ kmph)
• Rupay On-The-Go 4s of the Match Award- Shreyas Iyer (Hit the maximum of 5 fours for KKR)
• Player of the Match Award- Umesh Yadav (4/23 in 4 overs)

First Innings:

Punjab Kings- 137/10 in 18.2 overs

Bhanuka Rajapaksa- 31 runs off 9 balls

Kagiso Rabada- 25 runs off 16 balls

Liam Livingstone- 19 runs off 16 balls

Umesh Yadav- 4/23 in 4 overs

Tim Southee- 2/36 in 4 overs

Andre Russell- 1/0 in 0.2 overs

Second Innings:

Kolkata Knight Riders- 141/4 in 14.3 overs

Andre Russell- 70* runs off 31 balls

Shreyas Iyer- 26 runs off 15 balls

Sam Billings- 24 runs off 23 balls

Rahul Chahar- 2/13 in 4 overs

Kagiso Rabada- 1/23 in 3 overs

Odean Smith- 1/39 in 2 overs 

Result: KKR won by 6 wickets with 33 balls remaining

Kolkata Knight Riders win the game with more than five overs remaining. Russell hit two consecutive sixes off the 15th over, being bowled by Liam Livingstone to finish the match for KKR with six wickets in hand. While Russell remained unbeaten on 70 runs off 31 balls, Sam Billings remained unbeaten on 24 runs off 23 balls at the other end. Russell hit a total of eight sixes and two fours during his knock.

Russell reaches his fifty in 26 balls. He hit a four in the fourth delivery of the 14th over to complete his fifty. The over finished with Russell hitting an effortless six over the covers and took KKR's total to 128/4.

The only PBKS bowler who currently looks to be in form is Rahul Chahar. The leg spinner gave away just five runs from the 13th over as KKR found themselves at 114/4 at the end of the 13th over.

Rahul Chahar gave away just six runs off the 11th over. KKR now need 59 runs from 54 balls to win the match.

Russell started off the 12th over of KKR's chase by hitting Odean Smith for a four, before smashing a dozen runs off the next two deliveries. As Smith bowled a dot ball in the fourth ball, Russell hit another six in the fifth ball. While it looked like KKR scored 22 runs from the 12th over after KKR batters took a single in the final delivery, the ball was declared a no-ball and Sam Billings got into the act and sent it for another six. KKR finished the 12th over with 109/4 on the board.

While the 10th over started with Harpreet Brar bowling a wide, Andre Russell hit a six in the second ball, took a double in the third ball, before hitting another mammoth six in the fourth ball. KKR finished the over with 73/4.

After bowling a maiden and picking up two crucial wickets in his previous over, Rahul Chahar bowled another tidy over as he conceded just two runs. At the end of 9 overs, KKR's score is 56/4.

KKR captain Shreyas Iyer, who looked in outstanding touch, was dismissed for 26 runs off 15 deliveries by Rahul Chahar in the fourth ball of the seventh over. In the same over, Chahar also dismissed Nitish Rana for a duck before he finished his over as a maiden. At the end of 7 overs, KKR's score is 51/4.

The first six overs of the powerplay produced a mixed set of results for both teams as on the one hand, KKR got off to a blistering start by scoring 51 runs. However, they did lose both their openers.

Venkatesh Iyer is the latest batter to be dismissed by Odean Smith after Harpreet Brar took a fantastic juggling catch at cover point. After 4.3 overs, KKR's score is 38/2.

Shreyas Iyer continues to look in good touch as he smacked Kagiso Rabada for a four in the fourth over to increase KKR's score to 33/1 after 4 overs.

After conceding two fours in the first over, Arshdeep Singh bowled another expensive over as he conceded another two boundaries. At the end of 3 overs, KKR's score is 25/1.

After hitting three boundaries, Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed for 12 runs by Kagiso Rabada, who is making his PBKS debut. At the end of two overs, KKR's score is 14/1. 

Arshdeep Singh kicked off proceedings for Punjab in the second innings, while Ajinkya Rahane took strike and faced the first ball. While the first ball was left alone by Rahane, he sent the second ball through the midwicket for a four before hitting another four of the fourth delivery. At the end of the first over, KKR's score is 8/0.

Speaking to Star Sports during the innings break, Umesh Yadav acknowledged that the team has assigned him the task of taking wickets with the new ball. Shedding his thoughts on the target set by PBKS, Yadav said it is a chaseable score. Yadav also spoke about the DY Patil track and said the ball is skidding off the wicket, contrary to the earlier pitches where the ball was sticking to the pitch. 

Punjab Kings set the Kolkata Knight Riders a target of 138 runs after Kagiso Rabada impressed with the bat down the order. The South African smacked 25 runs off just 16 deliveries before Andre Russell dismissed him in the first ball of the 19th over.

Despite the pressure of wickets falling like a pack of cards, Kagiso Rabada smacked Tim Southee for 15 runs off four deliveries in the 17th over on his PBKS debut. As a result, the Punjab Kings have increased their run tally to 120 runs after 17 overs.

Umesh Yadav is on fire in IPL 2022 as he dismissed Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar in the same over. After 14.4 overs, PBKS' score is just 102 runs for the loss of eight wickets.

Sunil Narine bowled another fantastic economical spell as he conceded just 23 runs off his four-over spell at an economy of 5.80. After 14 overs, PBKS' score is 102/6.

With the pressure continuously increasing on Punjab Kings, Shahrukh Khan was dismissed by Tim Southee in the first ball of the 13th over after he played a careless shot. At the end of 12.1 overs, PBKS' score is 92/6.

After bowling five dots, Harpreet Brar released all the pressure created by Sunil Narine as he smacked him for a six off his last delivery. At the end of 12 overs, PBKS's score is 92/5.

After an excellent start, Punjab Kings are in real trouble after Sunil Narine dismissed Raj Bawa for just 11 runs. After 10 overs, PBKS have scored 85 runs for the loss of five wickets.

Umesh Yadav dismissed Liam Livingstone for 19 runs to pick up his third wicket.

After some heavy hitting from the Punjab Kings batters, Sunil Narine bowled a tidy over for the Kolkata Knight Riders by conceding just five runs. At the end of 8 overs, PBKS' score is 70/3.

After an outstanding start, PBKS were dealt a major blow as Tim Southee dismissed Shikhar Dhawan in the last over of the powerplay. At the end of the powerplay, Punjab Kings have scored 62 runs for the loss of three wickets. Captain Mayank Agarwal and wicket-keeper Bhanuka Rajapaksa are the other two batters dismissed.

After Rajapaksa smashed Mavi for 22 runs, Varun Chakaravarthy bowled a tidy over as he conceded just eight runs in the fifth. After 5 overs, PBKS have scored 51 runs for the loss of two wickets.

Shivam Mavi made a fantastic comeback in the over as he dismissed Bhanuka Rajapaksa after being smacked for 22 runs off his first four deliveries. At the end of 4 overs, Punjab Kings' score is 43/2.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa scored a four to end the second over of the innings, bowled Tim Southee as Punjab reached 7/1 in two overs.

Umesh Yadav yet again prove his worth bowling against the top order as he dismissed Punjab skipper Mayank Agarwal on the individual score of 1 run off 5 ball in the final ball of the first over. 

Shikhar Dhawan will take the strike while opening the innings for PBKS alongside Mayank Agarwal. In the meantime, star bowler for KKR in IPL 2022, Umesh Yadav will open the bowling. This certainly assures a great competition tonight.

After losing the toss and being put in to bat first, Punjab Kings captain Mayank Agarwal explained how his side will approach the game as he said, "We need to start well, assess the conditions early and bat well. We're just looking to play with the right attitude and right energy, if we do that, the results will take care of themselves. One change - KG (Rabada) comes in for Sandy (Sandeep). I thought he (Sandeep) bowled well last game but we had to get KG back in."

Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer(c), Sam Billings(w), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakaravarthy

Punjab Kings: Mayank Agarwal(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Bhanuka Rajapaksa(w), Shahrukh Khan, Odean Smith, Raj Bawa, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and selected to field first.

While explaining his decision to bowl first, he said, "The reason is obviously the swimming pool (of dew) that's visible in the evenings. As I said last game, it's about giving it your all to defend no matter what score you have on the board."

Punjab Kings confirmed that Kagiso Rabada will make his debut against the Kolkata Knight Riders by handing him his cap ahead of the match at the Wankhede Stadium.

With Kagiso Rabada seen training hard in the nets, it will be interesting to see if the Punjab Kings decide to play him against the Kolkata Knight Riders in their second game. If Rabada does play, PBKS can drop Harpreet Brar, having only included two foreigners for their opening match.

As seen in the images in the Tweet below, the Kolkata Knight Riders can be seen training hard ahead of their IPL 2022 clash against the Punjab Kings:

Having picked up four wickets from his first two games in the IPL 2022 season, Indian pacer Umesh Yadav commented on his dream comeback as seen in the video below:

Under the new leadership of Mayank Agarwal, Punjab Kings got their IPL 2022 season off to a fantastic start as they successfully chased down the target of 206 runs in their opening clash against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in just 19 overs.

Going into the third match of the IPL 2022 campaign, the Kolkata Knight Riders have managed to win one game and lose the other. They kickstarted their campaign on the opening day of the season by beating last year's champions Chennai Super Kings by six wickets, with nine balls to spare. However, they could not replicate the same level of performance against RCB, who chased down the target of 129 runs in 19.2 overs.

With both teams having faced each other on 29 occasions in the IPL, read here to know the KKR vs PBKS head to head record ahead of their IPL 2022 clash.

The images from Punjab Kings' last training session before the game against the Kolkata Knight Riders can be seen in the tweet below:

While Australian pacer Pat Cummins will be unavailable for the clash against the Punjab Kings on April 1, he will be all set to return on April 6 against five-time champions MI in a major boost for KKR.

Cricket fans in India can watch IPL 2022 live on the Star Sports Network. As for the KKR vs PBKS live stream, fans can tune in to the Disney+ Hotstar app or website. Meanwhile, fans can also track the live updates and scores on the official social media handles of the two teams and the IPL.

Ahead of match 8 of IPL 2022 between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Punjab Kings, here is a look at our KKR vs PBKS Dream11 predictions:

Wicket-keeper: B Rajapaksa

Batters: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Shreyas Iyer (VC), Mayank Agarwal

All-rounders: S Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Liam Livingstone

Bowlers: Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh

Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer(c), Sam Billings, Sheldon Jackson(w), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Shivam Mavi, Mohammad Nabi, Chamika Karunaratne, Baba Indrajith, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Pratham Singh, Abhijeet Tomar, Rasikh Salam, Aman Hakim Khan, Ashok Sharma, Ramesh Kumar

Punjab Kings: Mayank Agarwal (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Bhanuka Rajapaksa (w), Shahrukh Khan, Odean Smith, Raj Bawa, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Sandeep Sharma, Rahul Chahar, Prabhsimran Singh, Rishi Dhawan, Benny Howell, Ishan Porel, Vaibhav Arora, Ansh Patel, Atharva Taide, Prerak Mankad, Jitesh Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Writtick Chatterjee, Baltej Singh