Punjab Kings. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)
Punjab Kings saw off the challenge of Kolkata Knight Riders to register their first win of the tournament. Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s blistering half-century guided the home side to a commanding total before Arshdeep Singh did the damage with the ball in a rain-affected encounter.
Kolkata Knight Riders got off to a wobbly start in pursuit of a challenging total as Mandeep Singh and Anukul Roy were sent packing by Arshdeep Singh in his first over of the tournament. It got worse for the visitors after Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who was looking in great touch, was also dismissed in the first six overs of the chase.
Venkatesh Iyer, who came into the side as the Impact Player, replacing Varun Chakaravarthy, led the fightback for KKR along with skipper Nitish Rana. However, the break did the trick for the home side as the KKR skipper was sent back by Sikandar Raza in the tenth over. Rinku Singh was next to depart as the visitors started feeling the pressure.
Punjab were all over their opponents before the explosive Andre Russell led the fightback for the Pen in Purple with a typically assertive innings. However, his dismissal against Sam Curran felt like the final nail in the coffin in the second match of the tournament.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Shikhar Dhawan build a solid platform for PBKS
Despite being put into bat first into the match, Shikhar Dhawan’s side got off to a flying start thanks to 22-year-old Prabhsimran Singh’s scathing assault in the first two overs of the match. However, a loose shot against veteran Kiwi pacer Tim Southee led to his demise.
The young opener’s dismissal did not concern the home side as they kept going from strength to strength, milking runs against the KKR bowlers. Bhanuka Rajapaksa took on veteran Carribean spinner Sunil Narine to assert Punjab’s dominance in the match. The Souhpaw departed after a brisk half-century in the eleventh over of the match.
But the visitors’ struggles with the ball continued as Jitesh Sharma smashed 21 runs off just 11 deliveries to maintain the scoring rate after Rajapaksa’s dismissal. The Men in Purple did claw their way back into the match after dismissing Jitesh and his skipper Dhawan in quick succession.
It looked like Punjab were heading for an underwhelming finish before Sam Curran and Shahrukh Khan’s late riposte propelled them to 191 runs in their 20 overs.
