After being asked to bat first by Kolkata Knight Riders, Punjab Kings scored 191/5 in the second match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, which is being played in Mohali’s PCA IS Bindra Stadium. Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Shikhar Dhawan’s 86-run second-wicket stand was the highlight of Punjab’s innings, whilst for KKR, Varun Chakravarthy was effective with his leg-spin.
Playing his seventh match in this competition, this time as the opening partner of Dhawan, Prabhsimran Singh got his team off to a quickfire start, albeit his stay at the crease was not a prolonged one. The local lad from Patiala scored 23 runs, with the help of a couple of boundaries and as many maximums, before being dismissed by Tim Southee.
That wicket in the second over, however, had no impact on Punjab’s scoring rate, with Bhanuka Rajapaksa using his wide repertoire of attacking shots to the full extent.
With the pacers proving to be expensive, Nitish Rana turned to his prized spin asset, Sunil Narine, in only the fourth over of the game, but it was not an effective move as Rajapaksa struck a couple of fours and a massive six off the West Indian’s bowling.
The hosts scored 56 runs in the powerplay, whereas the first over after the conclusion of fielding restrictions saw Shardul Thakur getting introduced into the attack. The pacer, who was making his debut for KKR, got the Narine treatment with Rajapaksa going after him in his first over in purple and gold.
The next three overs saw 31 runs being scored, courtesy of which Punjab breached the three-figure mark at only the halfway stage of the innings.
Rajapaksa brought up his maiden IPL half-century in the 11th over, but only a couple of deliveries later, he was sent packing by Umesh Yadav to bring up the second wicket of the day for the Knights.
By then, Punjab’s batting template of going all out on attack was all but evident, and the memo had reached Jitesh Sharma as well. The 29-year-old struck a straight six off Narine’s bowling in the next over, before hitting another six in Tim Southee’s third over. However, the Kiwi utilised his experience to have the last laugh, sending Jitesh back with an effective slower delivery.
Sam Curran’s Cameo Catapults PBKS to 191
With all of his partners looking keen on pyrotechnics, Shikhar Dhawan played an anchor’s role until his departure in the 15th over, when Varun Chakravarthy dismantled his stumps, resulting in a momentum shift in favour of the two-time champions.
The two new batters, Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza and England’s Sam Curran, tried to provide Punjab with the perfect finish, although, only one of the duo was successful in this operation.
Raza's debut IPL expedition saw him scoring a 13-ball 16, but Curran smashed a couple of sixes to accumulate 26 runs in only 16 deliveries, and subsequently, help Pubjab put up 191 runs on the scoreboard.
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