Multiple records tumbled as Punjab Kings, led by Jonny Bairstow‘s unbeaten century, and quickfire fifties from Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh, registered an eight-wicket win with eight balls to spare over Kolkata Knight Riders in a scarcely believable contest at the Eden Gardens on Friday . Jonny Bairstow finally after being dropped out in few matches rose back to form with a scintillating hundred.
Jonny Bairstow roared back to form to smack his second IPL hundred. Shashank Singh, one of PBKS’ finds of the season, clubbed 68* from only 28 balls, eight of which disappeared over the boundary. Amid all that, Sunil Narine stood apart with figures of 4-0-24-1 for KKR.
Pitch and Toss
It’s absolutely scorching at mid-40 degrees which will make it slightly uncomfortable for the players. 66m and 63m square boundaries while the straight boundary is at 73m. This is going to play as it has right through the season, it has plenty of pace and bounce on offer, the pitch itself is rock hard, the silt content on this surface is around 70% or more, in general it’s around 50-60%.
There are a lot of patches on a good length area on both ends, the grass is abrasive and the spinners could get some help, especially in the first innings. KKR’s spinners should have an advantage as they rely on pace and lateral movement. It’s a high scoring venue, there’s no dew, the curators have confirmed the same. The captain winning the toss could still opt to chase first, reckon Katey Martin and Deep Dasgupta, in their pitch report.
Punjab Kings skipper Sam Curran won the toss and chose to bowl on a flat wicket and bought in Jonny Bairstow for Liam Livingstone. Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Shreyas Iyer batting first made one change bringing in Dushmantha Chameera for Mitchell Starc.
Phil Salt, Sunil Narine make merry in the powerplay as KKR smash PBKS bowlers.
The in-form Kolkata Knight Riders openers continued to exert their dominance. Narine got going with a boundary off the first ball, freeing his arms and powerfully driving a widish delivery by Sam Curran through the extra cover region. While Salt took time to go on the offensive, Narine was at it throughout, taking down Arshdeep Singh and Kagiso Rabada.
In the third over, Salt also joined the act and clubbed two sixes and a four off Harshal Patel. Both the openers had their moments of luck with Harpreet Brar putting down Narine in the third over and Curran dropping a straightforward chance at mid off in the sixth over to offer Salt a life on 34.
PBKS dropped Salt twice and Narine once inside the first seven overs, and the two turbocharged openers ran away to 83 for no loss in that time. By the time KKR had reached the halfway point of their innings, they had added another 54 to their score. Narine reached his fifty in the eighth over, bringing it up 23 balls, and Salt got to his in the next over. At the 10-over mark, ESPNCricinfo’s Forecaster predicted a KKR total of 282.
KKR continue the assault in the middle overs too.
Even after the field restrictions were removed, Narine and Salt continued to pile misery on the PBKS bowlers. Rahul Chahar bowled a tight over and even had the opportunity to have Salt caught a run later, but this time Rabada put down another straightforward chance.
Later, Salt and Narine hammered the South African for 22 runs and went on to pile 128 runs for the opening wicket before both were dismissed in quick succession. Nonetheless, Venkatesh Iyer and Andre Russell, batting at No 3 and No 4, muscled a few big shots and ensured that the scoring rate didn’t witness a dip through the middle overs.
PBKS finally separated the opening pair when Rahul Chahar got Narine to mishit a big shot and find Bairstow at long-on. Who knew then that Bairstow would have so much of a say later in the day KKR promoted Andre Russell up to No. 4, and he entered in the 13th over. Facing his second ball, he upper-cut Sam Curran for four to deep third. Chahar then bowled a quiet 14th over, conceding just seven runs, but it was only a temporary bit of respite.
Shreyas and Venkatesh Iyer’s blaze away but PBKS limits KKR to 261 for 6
Sam Curran struck early in the death overs to dismiss Andre Russell with a sharp bouncer. However, Shreyas Iyer took down the left-arm pacer in the 18th over, hammering two sixes and a four off successive deliveries. His stay was brief, but a 10-ball 28 provided KKR the flourish it needed. The rest of the batters struggled to provide the impetus in the death overs but KKR still managed to post 261/6 – the highest total at Eden Gardens.
Russell, Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer – who hit Curran for 6, 4, 6, 6 to end the 19th over – joined hands to take 85 off the last six overs. KKR’s total of 261 for 6 would have been the second-highest in IPL history if it had been made before this season. As it happened, it was only the seventh-highest at the halfway point of this game, and the eighth highest by the time it was done.
Prabhsimran Singh dominates the powerplay as PBKS races to 93 for 1 in 6 overs
Led by Prabhsimran Singh’s blazing 18-ball half-century, Punjab Kings put up a strong show in the powerplay. He mixed conventional strokes with some clever scoops as KKR bowlers found it difficult to keep a check on the scoring. Prabhsimran got going with the attack on Harshit Rana in the second over and continued it till the end of the powerplay when an attempt to run a risky single ended his stay with a run out.
Jonny Bairstow, who stayed away from the strike for most of the partnership also got going in the last over, taking down Anukul Roy for two sixes and three boundaries. The 93/1 they got was the highest-ever score posted by PBKS, and also the fourth-highest ever in IPL history.
Eden Gardens had just taken in the enormity of the home team’s batting effort when PBKS replied in kind, pumping their highest-ever powerplay score of 93 for 1. And Prabhsimran Singh dominated this phase despite not getting to face a single ball of the sixth over. Coming on as Impact sub at the start of the chase, he hammered 54 off 20 balls, the highlight of his innings coming when he went after KKR debutant Dushmantha Chameera in a 23-run third over. There were five sixes in his innings, including a scoop over fine leg off Chameera.
Jonny Bairstow then went 4, 6, 4, 4, 6 off Anukul Roy in the sixth over, before Prabhsimran, responding to the call for a quick single from the non-striker’s end, was run out off the last ball of the powerplay.
Jonny Bairstow carts KKR all around
Barring three overs of Narine in which he conceded only 12 runs, there wasn’t much to stop PBKS’s rampage even through the middle overs. In this phase, it was largely Jonny Bairstow taking over the mantle of scoring with Rilee Rossouw struggling for most parts of his stay. The most lethal of Jonny Bairstow’s attack came against Andre Russell when he smashed the pacer for 24 runs in the 12th over, which included three sixes.
Jonny Bairstow was dropped by PBKS after managing just 96 runs in his first six innings this season. And he took his time finding his feet in his return game, scoring just 12 off his first 10 balls. But his assault on Roy gave a hint of what was to come. Jonny Bairstow found a bit of help in the ninth over, though, when Roy dropped him while flinging himself to his left at long-off, and failed to prevent the ball from going for six. That shot off Varun Chakravarthy brought up Jonny Bairstow’s fifty, off 23 balls.
Jonny Bairstow went after Varun again in the 11th over, launching him for a six over long-off, chipping a four over the bowler’s head, and swat-pulling him for another six. When Bairstow got to his hundred off 45 balls to end the 16th over, PBKS needed 52 from 24.
Shashank Singh helps PBKS sail through with a record chase within 3 hours.
Needing nearly 12 runs an over heading into the death overs, PBKS didn’t let their guard down. A tight over by Harshit Rana helped KKR make the chase slightly stiff for the visitors but Shashank smashed seven sixes and a boundary in the next two overs to end KKR’s hopes. Defending only nine runs off the last two overs, Chameera was smashed down the ground for another six by Shashank and PBKS closed down the target with three comfortable singles.
Shashank came to the crease when Narine, who somehow conceded just two fours and a six in his four overs, dismissed Rilee Rossouw for a 16-ball 26 in the 13th over. It was the first time he had batted above No. 6 for PBKS, and he quickly made his liking for the promotion evident, hitting Varun for back-to-back leg-side sixes when he had just faced three balls.
The game was tilting PBKS’ way when the last four overs began, and the 16th made them clear favorites, as Shashank thumped Chameera for three sixes – a swat, a scoop, and a pull – as PBKS’ required rate fell to less than two runs per ball.
The match ended in a hurry, as Shashank clattered three more sixes, off Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh, and the crowd began to disperse even before the result was officially confirmed. Shashank was batting on 25 when Jonny Bairstow reached his hundred; the match ended with Shashank on 68 and Jonny Bairstow on 108.
Presentations and Road Ahead.
Shreyas Iyer the loosing skipper said :
“I would have (taken 260 at the start of the day). The way the batters batted was tremendous to see, Sunny coming in.. the way Salt batted, they delivered and it was a treat for the eyes. Both the teams played tremendously, one of those games where you go back to the drawing board and see where it went wrong especially not being able to defend 260,”
“We have to sum up the conditions and come up with better ideas. It is brilliant to see him (Narine) go out there and strike the ball, hopefully he keeps continuing with such performances,” he added.
Sam Curran the winning skipper said :
“Very pleasing. Most importantly the win. Cricket is turning into baseball. We have had a few tough weeks. But we hung in there. The way guys train. The confidence and the coaches. The small grounds and the dew. The reviews which might give you an extra ball. We hung in there and managed to chase it down with balls to spare,”
“Pleased for Jonny. What an amazing knock. Shashank Singh has been the find of the tournament for us. Ashutosh as well. Proud of everyone,” he added.
Jonny Bairstow was Player of the Match for his 108* said :
“We got off to a good start. That was the key. They got off to a good start as well thanks to Sunil. You have to take risks. Sometimes luck will go your way. Some days it won’t be your day. Tried to whack it as far as possible. If it is in your area, you had to go,”
“We had a couple of quiet overs when Sunil was bowling as we knew how important he is for them. Shashank Singh is a special player. The knowledge he has had been amazing. How clean he hit it! Was indeed very special,” he added.
All of you can catch your breathe for starters. Because Prabhsimran started on fast lanes. We thought it will eventually end and it did. He was run-out after his fifty. But Punjab had tallied 93 in the powerplay. Rossouw came in and Jonny Bairstow just got going. They had a tough time against Narine and the West Indian got rid of Rossouw. But Shashank Singh came in and the rest as they say was history. He just toyed with the bowlers. He plucked sixes like we pluck apples in an orchard.
Jonny Bairstow was a happy spectator at the other end. He scored a 100 in his comeback game and Punjab romped home in 18.4 overs. Almost 250 runs came in just sixes! That tells you how hapless the bowlers were. It indeed was bat vs bat and the batters of Punjab have outshone the home team with elan in the end. Punjab were on the brink of elimination coming into this and they have answered everyone doubting their intentions.
Yesterday RCB and tonight PBKS, the laggards have started their ascendancy. There is nothing called favorites in the IPL and we had another example of it. Punjab were culprit of falling short by little margins before tonight but they have managed to silence a lot of their critics. They were relentless. They never took off the pedal barring a few overs from Narine. Third win for PBKS and they are still in the fray. KKR stay at number 2 but the confidence of their bowlers would have been hit for sure. This will be a tough pill to swallow.
Like temperatures across the whole of India, run-scoring and six-hitting in IPL 2024 are going only one way – up. In an unbelievably ruthless display of batting, Punjab Kings hunted down 262 against Kolkata Knight Riders to record the highest successful chase in all of T20 history, and got there with eight balls to spare. They hit 24 sixes, six more than what KKR managed, and the two teams together set the record for the most sixes in any T20 game.
Punjab Kings will fly to Chennai to face the defending champions in Sunday’s afternoon clash while KKR will enjoy a couple of day’s break ahead of their next encounter at home, against Delhi Capitals