Kolkata Knight Riders have been dominant over Kings XI Punjab in the IPL, but the two teams have been involved in last over thrillers besides some majestic individual performances too.
Here is a look at some of those memorable clashes:
IPL 2008
Sourav Ganguly played one of his best IPL innings in the first edition at his home ground, Eden Gardens. Chasing 175 to win, the game went down to the wire, with 15 runs to get off the final over. The southpaw, batting on 49-ball 71, looked unperturbed as Irfan Pathan ran onto bowl. He just needed four bowls to get the required target, with two sixes in the first three balls, making the job easy. Umar Gul, who had scalped four wickets, played his role in the chase too, scoring a 11-ball 24 late in the innings.
IPL 2010
How often has a Chris Gayle blitzkrieg been overshadowed? Quite rare, one has to say. The left-hander hit an astonishing 88, including six fours and eight sixes. Kolkata scored 200/3. That innings, one thought, was quite enough, but Mahela Jayawardene had some other plans. The Sri Lankan scored his only IPL century to stun KKR, and it was a high-class innings, which witnessed 14 fours and three sixes. His feat ensured they reached the target with 10 balls to spare.
IPL 2012
When these two teams met in Kolkata, several heroes emerged with their standout performer. Be it, Sunil Narine for his five for or Piyush Chawla’s three wicket haul, but one has to give massive credit to Punjab’s Praveen Kumar and Harmeet Singh in a thrilling finish. KKR had the game in their bag, with 13 runs required in the last two overs, but the two pacers combined to just concede 10 runs to come up with a stunning win for Punjab.
IPL 2015
Chasing 184 to win, Kolkata needed someone to deliver the goods at the top. Unfortunately it didn't happen, and when Andre Russell walked onto bat in the 11th over, they needed more than 100 runs. The all-rounder decided to take it upon himself to help his team emerge victorious as he scored half of those runs in just 21 balls, which also included five fours and four sixes. When he walked back to the pavilion, they just needed 25 from 19 balls and they clinched the game in the final over.
IPL 2018
459 runs were scored in the contest, which included 31 sixes. It was entertainment of the highest order. Sunil Narine starred with a 75 from 36 balls, and a late flourish from Dinesh Karthik, who hit a half-century, helped KKR post their highest ever score, 245/6. Robin Uthappa’s strike rate of 141. 17 was the least, explaining how the KKR batsmen were on fire with the bat. Punjab batsman KL Rahul also entertained with a 29-ball 66, but they fell short by 31 runs.