Synopsis: On a pitch rolled-out for batsmen, Kolkata Knight Riders pile on 261/6 earlier than Jonny Bairstow’s magnificent century helps Punjab Kings full document chase.
On the face of it, Jonny Bairstow is a curious participant. When he doesn’t click on he will be very irritating to observe. However when he does, identical to he did on Friday evening on the Eden Gardens, there’s hardly ever a cleaner hitter of the ball in T20s. After returning to the Punjab’s beginning XI after being dropped for the final two matches, the English opener smashed the KKR tempo battery to smithereens. He took 24 runs off the final over of the powerplay as Punjab reached 93/1 after the primary 6 overs, bettering upon their KKR counterparts’ 76/0 within the first innings.And the chase was properly and really on.
Bairstow wouldn’t relent because the innings progressed, attending to his 50 from 23 balls as he all however silenced a 55k-strong dwelling crowd on the iconic Eden Gardens.
With the tempo assault faltering, Shreyas Iyer launched Varun Chakaravarthy however the opener wouldn’t be denied, as he nonchalantly hit the thriller spinner for 17 runs within the eleventh over as Punjab introduced up their 150 within the very subsequent one. Even the normally potent Andre Russell wasn’t protected from the Bairstow blitzkrieg as he smashed 24 runs off the twelfth over after which introduced up his ton in 45 deliveries.
He was ably supported by Shashank Singh with whom Bairstow introduced up a 50-run partnership off simply 27 deliveries as Punjab reached the goal of 262 with eight balls to spare, making it the very best profitable run chase in all T20s.
Shashank, who has been the discover of the season for Punjab, additionally did his half with a quickfire 67 off 27 after Rilee Rossouw was dismissed within the thirteenth over for 26. Together with his innings, which got here at an important stage when Bairstow was showing to expire of gasoline, ensured there was no comeback for Kolkata.
Earlier, it was Prabhsimran Singh who began all of it, mentioning his half century in simply 18 balls earlier than being run out as Punjab went all hell for leather-based from the phrase go within the chase of a steep goal.
Kolkata make Punjab pay for dropped catches
In a sizzling, sticky, energy-sapping night in Kolkata, Punjab Kings skipper Sam Curran selected to have a bowl after successful the toss. However his bowlers had been bled dry by Kolkata’s opening pair Sunil Narine and Phil Salt, who introduced up a 138-run partnership. To make issues worse, the Punjab bowlers weren’t helped by some actually subpar fielding which noticed each openers dropped thrice inside the primary 10 overs.
Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders batter Sunil Naraine and Phil Salt throughout Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings, on the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Friday, April 26, 2024.(PTI Picture/Swapan Mahapatra)
Since getting promoted to the opener slot once more this season, opposition assaults are but to discover a method to cease the carnage from Narine. Even one of the best participant of the 2022 T20 World Cup, Curran felt his wrath when he noticed the primary supply he bowled to Narine getting slashed for a 4. Similar occurred with Arshdeep Singh within the second over because the West Indies all-rounder nonchalantly pulled him for a six over sq. leg. He would attain his half century in simply 23 balls earlier than finally getting dismissed for 71 off Rahul Chahar. His knock had 4 sixes and 9 boundaries.
The carnage continued along with his opening associate Phil Salt, who after quiet first 2 overs the place he scored 2 runs from 5, signalled his intent by smashing Harshal Patel for 2 sixes and a 4, marauding 18 from the third over. Even Kagiso Rabada wasn’t spared as each openers made him look completely odd with KKR reaching 50 in simply 3.5 overs, 21 runs of which got here from his first over.
Because the powerplay ended, Kolkata had reached 76/0 with Punjab already having an enormous mountain to scale.
From there on with their fielders not making it any simple, Punjab’s assault struggled to stream to the run stream as Kolkata’s 100 got here up within the eighth over.
The Englishman would additionally get his half century off simply 25 because the hapless Punjab bowlers looked for a breakthrough. In all, Salt six sixes and as many boundaries.
There wasn’t any let up for Punjab because the night progressed with the bowlers progressively shedding the plot as Kolkata batsmen made merry, posting 137/0 after 10 overs.
No respite within the center overs
Curran would strike within the thirteenth over, cleansing up Salt for 75 however the stream of runs was not stemmed with KKR opting to ship Andre Russell up the order at quantity 4. The burly striker would begin his innings by taking part in a well-timed shot which required him to arch his physique and ship the supply to the third man boundary. He would construct on that with a six off the fifteenth over bowled by Harpreet Brar as Punjab’s technique to stifle KKR within the center overs didn’t actually pan out.
Russell survived a thick edge which wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma didn’t catch and it reached the boundary to deliver up KKR’s 200 within the sixteenth over. The West Indies allrounder would perish in the exact same over, having made24 off 12.
Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders’ Andre Russell performs a shot throughout an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings, on the Eden Gardens, in Kolkata, Friday, April 26, 2024. (PTI Picture/Swapan Mahapatra)
Shreyas Iyer would change him within the center scoring 28 off 10 deliveries with three sixes and a 4 off the 18th earlier than falling within the subsequent one. The Knights would finally put up 261/6, the highest-ever IPL rating on the Eden Gardens.
However little did they know on the half-way stage that the document could be surpassed inside a few hours and eight balls to spare.