Mumbai: The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) returned to the winning track in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 on Friday, defeating the Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six wickets at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Umesh Yadav ripped through the batting line-up of PBKS with a magnificent 4-wicket haul before Andre Russell's annihilating unbeaten knock of 70 off just 31 deliveries powered KKR to a dominant victory against PBKS.

KKR successfully chased the target of 137 set by PBKS. Andrew Russell’s brilliant knock of 70 runs was the highlight of KKR's batting. The KKR won the game in just 14.3 overs, thanks to the efforts of the Caribbean batsman's blitzkrieg innings. 

At the other end, skipper Shreyas Iyer and Sam Billings scored 26 and 24 runs, respectively, and both these batsmen stabilised the innings, which lost early wickets in the form of Ajinkya Rahane (12), Venkatesh Iyer (3).

For PBKS, Rahul Chahar was the successful bowler who picked two wickets, while Kagiso Rabada and Odean Smith picked up one wicket each.

The decision of KKR to bowl first after winning the toss was brilliantly justified by the KKR bowlers who did not allow the PBKS batsman to stick to the crease for a very long time. The entire PBKS team was bowled out for just 137 runs.

Skipper Mayank Agarwal failed to score runs once again. He was dismissed for just one run when the score was just two. After the dismissal of skipper, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa stitched a partnership of 41 runs, which was the highest partnership for the PBKS.

Bhanupaksa was the highest scorer for PBKS; he scored 31 runs. Tim Southee took two wickets for KKR, while Shivam Mavi, Sunil Narine, and Andrew Russell each took one.