Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab beat Ajinkya Rahane’s Kolkata Knight Riders by 16 runs in low-scoring thriller; Yuzvendra Chahal’s 4-28 has champs bowled out for 95 in pursuit of 112-run target
Punjab Kings players celebrate the dismissal of KKR’s Sunil Narine at Mullanpur, Chandigarh, yesterday. Pic/AFP
Yuzvendra Chahal led a stunning comeback for Punjab Kings with brilliant figures of 4-28 as the hosts defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 16 runs in a low-scoring Indian Premier League thriller here on Tuesday.
After restricting PBKS for 111 inside 16 overs, KKR looked set for an easy win, reaching 60 for two in seven overs.
Chahal on fire
Chahal however, ran through the KKR middle-order to hand Punjab an unlikely, but thrilling victory as KKR were bowled out for 95 in 15.1 overs. Marco Jansen took 3-17 in 3.1 overs.
Earlier, KKR dished out a clinical bowling show to bundle out hosts Punjab Kings out for just 111 — the third lowest total in this IPL season.
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PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer’s ploy to bat first after winning the toss at their home ground backfired as all their batters, except openers Priyansh Arya (22) and Prabhsimran Singh (30) struggled on the home pitch. Only three other batters — Nehal Wadhera (10), Shashank Singh (18) and Xavier Bartlett (11) — could register double-digit scores.
Some PBKS batters were also guilty of reckless batting and poor shot selection.
Harshit Rana (3-25) was the most successful bowler while Varun Chakaravarthy (2-21) and Sunil Narine (2-14) chipped in with two apiece.
Arya (22 off 12 balls), who hit a sensational hundred to win PBKS’ match against Chennai Super Kings, struck two fours off Anrich Nortje in the second over to set the tone of the home side’s innings. Prabhsimran then struck a six and two fours in the next over bowled by Vaibhav Arora, who conceded 20 runs.
Rana was welcomed by Arya with a six, but the bowler had the last laugh as the batter holed out to Ramandeep Singh. In-form PBKS captain Iyer was dismissed first ball with Ramandeep taking a stunning catch. Ramandeep ran a few yards and made a full length head-first dive and grabbed the ball inches above the turf.
Punjab’s shoddy batting show continued as Josh Inglis (2) was bowled by Chakaravarthy as the home side were three wickets down in the fifth over.
Prabhsimran, however, was not affected by the fall of wickets as he smacked Rana for two consecutive sixes in the sixth over. But he got out two balls later to become Rana’s third victim. Ramandeep also grabbed his third catch of the day, all of them off the bowling of Rana, as the duo made a perfect pair.
Punjab’s poor Powerplay
With 54 for 4 at the end of Powerplay, Punjab were clearly in trouble. Glenn Maxwell and Nehal Wadhera were kept quiet in the next two overs by the clinical KKR bowlers. Nortje then returned to take Wadhera’s wicket in the ninth over to leave Punjab in disarray. The home side’s slide continued as no batter stayed put for even a few overs.
Brief scores
PBKS 111 all out in 15.3 overs (P Arya 22, Prabhsimran 30; H Rana 3-25, V Chakravarthy 2-21, S Narine 2-14) beat KKR 95 all out in 15.1 overs (A Raghuvanshi 37; Y Chahal 4-28, M Jansen 3-17) by 16 runs
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