Punjab won their first match of the 16th edition of the Indian T20 League against Kolkata by 7 runs on DLS method at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Saturday, April 1. Kolkata won the toss and opted to bowl first, but they didn’t have the start they wanted as Prabhsimran Singh and Shikhar Dhawan gave Punjab a quick start. Prabhsimran scored a quickfire 23 off 12 balls with two fours and two sixes, while Dhawan made 40 off 29 balls with six fours.
Varun Chakravarthy dismissed Dhawan, but Bhanuka Rajapaksa was the star of the show, smashing a ferocious 50 off 32 balls with five fours and two sixes. Jitesh Sharma made 21 off 11 balls, and Sam Curran and Shahrukh Khan provided the finishing touch. Punjab posted 191-5 in their 20 overs, with Curran making 26 off 17 balls with two sixes and Shahrukh making 11 off 7 balls with two fours.
Kolkata had a poor start to their chase as they lost their first three wickets on the score of just 29 runs as fast bowler Arshdeep Singh thrashed Kolkata’s top order. Anukul Roy, who was promoted to number 3, departed for just 4 runs. Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana tried to resurrect Kolkata’s innings, but Rinku Singh was dismissed early. Iyer and Andre Russell then put on a 50-run partnership, with Russell making 35 off 18 balls with three fours and two sixes.
However, Curran dismissed Russell just when things were going in Kolkata’s favor. Iyer perished to Arshdeep Singh, trying to up the ante. He scored 34 off 28 balls with three fours and one six. Rain came pouring down in the 16th over, and Kolkata were 7 runs behind on the DLS par score, which was 153.
Punjab bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Sikandar Raza were the picks of the bowlers, taking two wickets each. Mohammed Shami, Harpreet Brar, and Rahul Chahar took one wicket each. Rajapaksa was named the player of the match for his brilliant half-century. Kolkata will have to re-think their batting order, especially after experimenting with Anukul Roy at number 3, while Punjab would be delighted with their all-round performance.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to Pubjab’s win:
Me watching #KolkataKnightRiders lose early wickets pic.twitter.com/lFSP6BonWU
— Chup Bey! (@stud88282483) April 1, 2023
#KolkataKnightRiders Fan right now pic.twitter.com/8GMQR457Lw
— Arshad Jaffar (@Arshad27222) April 1, 2023
First debut wicket by @SRazaB24 ??? He shines ?? everywhere.#IPL2023 #IPL #PunjabKings #SikandarRaza pic.twitter.com/6mCicH64Fe
— Shehla Ahmed | King Babar Stan ????| (@SYEDASHEHLAAHM1) April 1, 2023
Swaad aa gaya ? Curran ne Paisa vasool performance de di #PunjabKings ?? #ShikharDhawan #SamCurran
— Manish (@mani7raj) April 1, 2023
Punjab team listened to chak de India
— HAST…MITHUN (@VKFORLIFE18) April 1, 2023
Owned Kkrhaar
— STAN THE GOAT? (@STANMSDHONI7) April 1, 2023
match hota to all out thi kkr
— SAHEZ (@sahez_22) April 1, 2023
