Punjab Kings defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 7 runs in the second match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. Chasing a target of 192 runs in Mohali’s PCA IS Bindra Stadium, the Knights scored 146/7 in 16 overs before rain halted the game, resulting in two points for the Kings on the basis of DLS method.
Kolkata had the worst plausible start they could have imagined, losing two batters inside the first couple of overs. After Sam Curran’s opening over yielded 13 runs, Arshdeep Singh pulled things back for his team in a mightily efficacious manner, by dismissing both Mandeep Singh and Anukul Roy in his first over.
Making his IPL debut, Afghanistan’s wicketkeeper-batter, Rahmanullah Gurbaz looked in decent touch for his 16-ball 22, before he fell prey to a Nathan Ellis delivery in the fifth over.
The onus then shifted on the shoulders of captain Nitish Rana, who, alongside impact substitute Venkatesh Iyer, did well to steer KKR’s ship forward, albeit not at an electrifying pace. The pair added 46 runs for the fourth-wicket stand, before the scales tipped in Punjab’s favour again.
Rana departed in the 10th over, with Sikandar Raza making the Knights’ leader his first scalp in IPL, whilst Rinku Singh could also contribute four runs to his team’s tally. At 80/5, the game was all but Punjab’s to lose, until Andre Russell brought the Knights back into the game.
The all-rounder scored 35 runs in 19 deliveries, which included three fours and a couple of sixes, as he and Iyer added 50 runs for the sixth-wicket stand. However, the former’s dismissal in the 15th over, off Sam Curran’s bowling, extinguished all hope the two-time champions had of launching retaliation.
Venkatesh Iyer departed four deliveries later, and though Shardul Thakur and Sunil Narine managed to hit a six each to add a late twist to the tale, rain ruined such plans by intervening before the commencement of the 17th over. At that stage, KKR were 146/7 – seven runs behind on DLS par score.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Shikhar Dhawan Star With the Bat
Earlier, after being asked to bat first, Punjab Kings scored 191/5. 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.
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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