Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell blitz takes KKR to record total against KXIP

Dinesh Karthik (50 off 33 balls) and Andre Russell (31 off 14 balls) took Kolkata Knight Riders to a mammoth 245/6 against Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League on Saturday

Skipper Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell stitched together a brilliant partnership as Kolkata Knight Riders posted 245/6 - the highest total in this year’s Indian Premier League - against Kings XI Punjab at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Saturday. (HIGHLIGHTS)

Dinesh Karthik scored a fifty for Kolkata Knight Riders during their IPL 2018 match against Kings XI Punjab in Indore on Saturday.(BCCI)

This was also KKR’s highest score in IPL history surpassing their previous best of 222/3 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first edition of the tournament. (SCORECARD)

After Sunil Narine’s fifty had given the visitors a great start, Karthik and Russell carried on the good work as KXIP’s bowlers, except Andrew Tye, were left clueless.

Coming into bat in the 12th over, Karthik hit a boundary off just his second ball, smacking a flighted delivery from Axar Patel past the fielder at the short third-man.

Russell joined the party with a six off Mohit Sharma in the 14th over.

READ | Sunil Narine scores 2nd half century in IPL 2018 for Kolkata Knight Riders

In the very next over, both batsmen targeted Axar, smashing him for two maximums and a boundary. While Karthik swept one to the deep square leg boundary, the West Indies all-rounder cleared the square leg and the deep mid-wicket boundary.

The next 12 balls yielded 36 runs, taking KKR’s score past 200.

Russell, who looked set for a half-century, fell to Tye, who had earlier removed Chris Lynn (27) and Narine (75). The duo put on a 76-run partnership off just 31 balls.

Karthik held one end and brought up his half-century off 22 balls.