Kolkata Knight Riders ( KKR ) got the better of Kings XI Punjab ( KXIP ) in a nerve-wracking IPL 2020 encounter which went till the last ball and the match was ultimately decided by the barest of margins.

Punjab were cruising in their chase of 165 as the opening pair of Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul added 115 for the first wicket – their second 100-plus stand of the season. Requiring 29 off the last four overs with nine wickets in hand, KXIP were on the driver’s seat.

But as it turned out, they could score only 15 runs in the next three overs, leaving them with 14 needed off the last. Narine kept them down to seven runs and removed Mandeep Singh in the first five deliveries. With six needed to force a super over, Maxwell scooped a wide delivery towards the short boundary over cover for a four.

The ball, as replays showed, fell centimetres before the boundary rope which left the commentators, Danny Morrison and Ian Bishop, wondering how the umpire awarded the four immediately after the ball crossed the boundary without checking for the possibility of a maximum.

“Come upstairs, surely,” Morrison said soon after the umpire Chris Gaffaney signalled a boundary.

“And that means KKR have pulled another one out of the hat. Can we track again?” Bishop wondered.

“I thought this has gone all the way. I think it is four but how do you give that so quickly with a naked eye? They are having a look upstairs though folks,” added Morrison. The video umpire was ultimately involved and replays confirmed that the ball had indeed landed just short of the boundary, handing KKR a two-run win.

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