Sam Curran. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)
Bhanuka Rajapaksa smashed 50 off just 32 with five fours and two sixes while seam bowler Arshdeep Singh picked up three wickets for 19 runs in his three-over spell as Punjab Kings began their 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign with a victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The Kings defeated the Knight Riders by a margin of seven runs (D/L Method) in Mohali.
Speaking about how the clash panned out, skipper Nitish Rana won the toss as KKR elected to field first. Opener Prabhsimran Singh and his partner and captain Shikhar Dhawan scored 23 and 40 runs respectively. Rajapaksa ended his half-century drought as he reached the milestone for the first time in 23 T20 innings since the Asia Cup final last year. A few cameos by the other players meant PBKs reached a big total of 191/5 in their allotted 20 overs. Kiwi pacer Tim Southee grabbed two scalps but proved expensive for his 54 runs in four overs.
Chasing 192, wicketkeeper-batter and opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz struck 22 off 16 while Mandeep Singh fell cheaply for just two. Impact player Venkatesh Iyer amassed 34 off 28 with captain Rana scoring 24. Hard-hitter Andre Russell did look dangerous for his knock of 35 off 19 before getting dismissed to Sam Curran. With KKR being 146/7 at the end of the 16th over, the heavens opened up and PBKS eventually sealed the contest by the DL method. Arshdeep grabbed the Player of the Match award for his solid spell.
Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from Match no.2 between Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League 2023:
23 – Bhanuka Rajapaksa registered his highest score of 50 in 23 T20 innings since the Asia Cup final in 2022 where he smashed 71* against Pakistan.
34 – With 34 wickets against PBKS, Umesh Yadav has now taken the most wickets against an opponent in the IPL. Dwayne Bravo and Sunil Narine are joint-second for picking up 33 wickets against Mumbai Indians and PBKS respectively.
100 – Arshdeep Singh completed the milestone of 100 wickets in T20s.
94 – Shikhar Dhawan is now joint-top with Virat Kohli for getting involved in most 50-plus partnerships (94) in the IPL
3 – KKR pacer Tim Southee recorded his third most expensive spell (2/54) in the cash-rich league. He conceded 0/61 against KKR in 2019 and 0/57 against Lucknow Super Giants in 2022.
11 – PBKS recorded just their 11th victory out of 31 matches in the cash-rich league.
