Punjab's players are still hugging it out in the middle. What a turnaround for Chahal, what a night for Shreyas Iyer after his second-ball duck. We were talking about KKR going No. 1 on NRR an hour ago. Just incredible scenes.

Rahane: "I'll take the blame, played the wrong shot, was missing, but it started from there. I didn't want to take a chance at the time, I wasn't sure as well. wicket was not that easy, 111 was chaseable, we batted really badly as a batting unit, bowlers did really well against a strong Punjab batting line up. I thought we were reckless, should take full responsibility as a unit. Too many things going through my head. Very disappointed. Need to keep myself really calm and think about what I'm going to talk to the boys."

I have almost never heard Ajinkya Rahane express himself in the manner he has just now.

Ricky Ponting: The heart rate is still up there ... two days agp we couldn't chase 240 off ... small chases like this, the wicket was easy. How about Chahal tonight? He actually had a fitness test beforee the game tonight ... I asked him if he was okay, he said he was ready to go ... even if we had lost that game, I couldnt have been prouder of us in the second half, the batting was poor, but ... if we had gone down in a close one, I thought this was a season defining moment. I reckon at the half way mark there weren't too many people around the world who would have defended that ... That might just be about the best win I've ever had as coach."

If Ponting is saying that it's the best game he's been part of as coach, that's got to count for a whole lot. Stay tuned for the presentation.

Mustafa Moudi : "So Chahal saved himself for this match. Last match Dhoni and tonight Chahal, once again proved - FORM IS TEMPORARY, CLASS IS PERMANENT!!"

Akshay: "Wonder how Varun judged this as a 180-190 wicket during the innings break!"

Shreyas Iyer at the presentation: "It's had to express in words, I saw the ball was turning a bit, asked Yuzi to control his breathing as much as possible, we needed to be attacking, I'm not able to talk, it's tough to digest this victory ... When I went out to bat i faced two balls, one stayed low, the other carried, there was variable bounce in the wicket ... we got to a decent total, considering we won by 16 runs ... the bounce wasn't consistent and the pace was variable ... Two wickets in two overs gave us momentum but their two batters took the momentum towards them, but when Yuzi started turning the ball, our expectations and hopes got higher, I wanted the fielders to be attacking around the batsmen so that they try different shots, and the tide turned towards us. We need to stay humble ...this win is going to give us a boost."

Chahal is the Player of the Match of course for 4-0-28-4.

Chahal: "I think it was a team effort, we wanted to stay positive, take 2-3 wickets in the powerplay, pitch wasnt easy. There was turn in the pitch as well. My first ball turned, so Shreyas said let's have a slip, we needed to take wickets to win this game because the runs were low. I always had self belief in myself. I always think about how to get the batters out, I varied my pace so that the batters had to put effort into hitting."

It's been a memorable game, thank you for keeping me company through it with your emails. I hope you enjoyed following it on Cricinfo as much as I did bringing it to you. Until the next one, goodnight!

15.1
W
Jansen to Russell, OUT, Punjab have done it. The lowest total successfully defended in IPL history! And look at these scenes out in the middle, red shirts running in from far and wide to the pitch to mob their man Marco! Short of a length ball angled into the right-hander from around the wicket, Russel cleared his front foot and swung hard, inside edge on to the stumps. Good night! Absolutely sensational game this.

AD Russell b Jansen 17 (27m 11b 1x4 2x6) SR: 154.54

The last time these two teams faced each other at Eden Gardens last season, Punjab pulled off the highest chase ever in the IPL. Now they are one wicket away from pulling off the lowest defence ever in the IPL. High drama. Russell stands between then and two points that looked so improbable one hour ago.

Jansen to bowl. Russell's got to go ...big! He wants new bats. Oh the new bats coming from the dug out are for Nortje! Nortje's previous bat did not fit through the umpire's gauge it seems.

END OF OVER:
15 | (wicket maiden) | KKR: 95/9 (17 runs required from 30 balls, RR: 6.33, RRR: 3.40)

  • Andre Russell17 (10b)
  • Arshdeep Singh3-1-11-1
  • Yuzvendra Chahal4-0-28-4
14.6
W
Arshdeep Singh to Arora, OUT, got him! Arshdeep has done it. He changes the angle and goes around the wicket and bangs in the short one straight at Arora's head, he backs away and fends at it and gloves it to Inglis. Punjab are one wicket away, but KKR have Russell back on strike.

VG Arora c †Inglis b Arshdeep Singh 0 (12m 7b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0

14.5
0
Arshdeep Singh to Arora, no run, short ball right at the body, Arora hangs his bat out in front of him and fends it away, the ball goes towards short third
14.4
0
Arshdeep Singh to Arora, no run, fends and misses, to be fair he drew his bat away late from the short of a length ball angling across him

17 runs have never seemed so far away in T20 cricket.

14.3
0
Arshdeep Singh to Arora, no run, short ball from over the wicket and Arora ducks under it.
14.2
0
Arshdeep Singh to Arora, no run, Arora really wants to get off strike, Russell sends him back, that was pushed to cover, no run there once Shedge dived and stopped the ball
14.1
0
Arshdeep Singh to Arora, no run, full ball angling into the right-hander from around the wicket, played to short third

Hilly: "The statistics clearly says Dre Rus has 200 strike rate against Chahal. Where is the think tank?? "

17 to win off 36 for KKR, Russell is not on strike. Arshdeep to Arora.

END OF OVER:
14 | 16 Runs | KKR: 95/8 (17 runs required from 36 balls, RR: 6.78, RRR: 2.83)

  • Andre Russell17 (10b)
  • Vaibhav Arora0 (1b)
  • Yuzvendra Chahal4-0-28-4
  • Marco Jansen3-0-17-2
13.6
0
Chahal to Russell, no run, lets it go outside off, Russell wants the wide but isn't going to get it. Punjab have a crack at Arora now.
13.5
4
Chahal to Russell, FOUR, width offered outside off stump and Russell shows off all that power, slapping the ball hard and flat through cover and into the gap on the boundary, it was near Arshdeep in the infield but it was hit so hard he had no chance
13.4
6
Chahal to Russell, SIX, Russell is in the mood tonight! Clears his front foot and slams the ball high and far over the cow corner boundary, two of the six sixes done with!
13.3
0
Chahal to Russell, no run, defended watchfully back to the bowler
13.2
6
Chahal to Russell, SIX, has he got it? No, just clears the leaping fielder on the long off boundary! Jansen was the man there and he's the tallest of the lot. Russell hit that flat and hard, and just high enough
13.1
0
Chahal to Russell, no run, that was nearly it for Punjab! Russell went for the big shot and got an inside edge just past his stumps

Dhaval: "Keep calm and believe in Dre Russ."

Ashish: "Looks like Big Dave's analysis is coming true! No Moeen No win!"

anonymous: "Punjab and KKR is somehow turning out to always be absolute cinema.. last time, Punjab pulled off a near-impossible chase, and this time a near-impossible defence"

Jai: "Amazing figures for Yuzi so far. 4/12. It should have been 4/8 had that boundary on overthrow not conceded..."

END OF OVER:
13 | 2 Runs 1 Wkt | KKR: 79/8 (33 runs required from 42 balls, RR: 6.07, RRR: 4.71)

  • Vaibhav Arora0 (1b)
  • Andre Russell1 (4b)
  • Marco Jansen3-0-17-2
  • Yuzvendra Chahal3-0-12-4

The players are taking a time out now. This is all on Andre Russell now. He has the strike. KKR need 33 to win. Nortje to come. Dre Russ has got to do it in sixes.

Andrew: "With all the high scoring matches we have grown accustomed to, it is great to see low scoring thrillers!"

12.6
0
Jansen to Arora, no run, Vaibhav Arora defends a full and straight ball back to the bowler

Punjab Kings are two wickets away from pulling off the lowest successful defence in IPL history.

12.5
W
Jansen to Harshit Rana, OUT, chopped on! The crowd in new Chandigarh are seeing a minor miracle! Rana falls to the third successive short ball. He tries to ster it to deep third once again and gets a bottom edge that uproots off stump

Harshit Rana b Jansen 3 (5m 6b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50

12.4
0
Jansen to Harshit Rana, no run, and again! Tries to upper cut the short one coming at his head this time and misses once again
12.3
0
Jansen to Harshit Rana, no run, short ball, angling into the right-hander from over the wicket, Rana sways out of the line to avoid the ball and then tries to ramp, beaten

Any Mathew : "Chahal and Maxwell should bowl out. Probably the match of the tournament. A low scorer thriller "

KKR 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st7SP NarineQ de Kock
2nd0AM RahaneQ de Kock
3rd55AM RahaneA Raghuvanshi
4th10VR IyerA Raghuvanshi
5th2RK SinghVR Iyer
6th2AD RussellRK Singh
7th0AD RussellRamandeep Singh
8th3AD RussellHarshit Rana
9th16AD RussellVG Arora
10th0AD RussellA Nortje