On Saturday, Kings XI Punjab extended their losing streak as Kolkata Knight Riders beat the side by 2 runs in the 24th fixture of the Indian Premier League at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.
A contest, which was Punjab's to win, turned its tide and ended with Dinesh Karthik's side clinching a 2-run victory. At 14.2 overs, Punjab openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal had scripted a whopping 115-run partnership while chasing 165.
It looked like it would be only a matter of time when KXIP would wrap up the match and snap their four-match losing streak.
But in the end, KXIP made a mess towards the end of their run chase to suffer their sixth defeat from seven matches and fifth on the trot while KKR notched up their fourth win in six matches. KXIP will now need a mathematical miracle to qualify.
Punjab needed 22 from the final three overs but the match turned on its head in the 18th over. Nicholas Pooran (16) gifted his wicket in the over bowled by Narine who conceded just two runs.
Needing 20 runs in the last two overs, KXIP lost two wickets in the space of three balls, including that of Rahul, in the penultimate over bowled by pacer Prasidh Krishna.
KXIP needed 14 runs from the last over and six off the final delivery to take the match to Super Over but Glenn Maxwell could only score a boundary for KXIP to lose the match by two runs. The Australian batsmen missed the maximum by inches.
Following the loss, netizens backed the 'champ'. "Well tried champ Maxwell. This match was unforgettable," one user wrote.
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