IPL: Punjab glisten in rain

Deepankar Sharda

Mohali, April 1

A heavily overcast sky and the timely wicket of Andre Russell helped Punjab Kings begin their IPL campaign with a victory over Kolkata Knight Riders by the DLS method at IS Bindra PCA Stadium here today.

After the hosts had put up an imposing 191/5 in their 20 overs, the players had to trudge off the ground after 16 overs in the KKR innings due to heavy showers. At this point, KKR were 146/7, seven runs short of the DLS par score of 153. After a wait lasting around half-an-hour, with no possibility of resumption of play, the hosts were declared the winners.

The visitors had a disastrous start, with left-arm paceman Arshdeep Singh picking up two early wickets, and half the side was back in the pavilion for only 80 runs in 10.1 overs.

However, Russell struck a whirlwind 35 off just 19 balls to bring KKR right back into the match. However, with the threat of rain looming, he was in a difficult position – he needed to take risks to score quick runs, but without losing his wicket. However, a loose shot ended his innings. After hitting a six and a boundary off Sam Curran in the 14th over, Russell tried to pull a short delivery high but ended up giving a catch to Sikandar Raza at deep midwicket.

Russell had got a lifeline when he was dropped by Prabhsimran Singh, but he couldn’t make full use of the life.

Soon after Russell’s departure, Arshdeep removed Venkatesh Iyer (34 off 28 balls) in the very next over to land the decisive blow on the visitors.

Arshdeep ended up with three wickets, while Curran, Nathan Ellis, Raza and Rahul Chahar claimed one wicket each.

The KKR innings was delayed by almost 30 minutes due to a floodlights malfunction. Had the floodlights not malfunctioned, it is likely that KKR would have got the full 20 overs to chase their target

Rajapaksa to the fore

Earlier, a fine half-century by Bhanuka Rajapaksa helped the hosts to 191/5. The experienced Sri Lankan emerged as the power hitter for the hosts, slamming a quick 50 off 32 balls, with five boundaries and two sixes.

After being asked to bat first, Punjab Kings put up a dominant display of aggressive batting and at one stage looked set to touch the 200-run mark.

Patiala lad Prabhsimran, opening with skipper Shikhar Dhawan, attacked right from the start, hitting 23 off 12 balls. He took on the experienced opening pacemen, Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee. After hitting a six off Yadav in the first over, the Patiala lad hit Southee for his second six on the fifth ball of the second over with a powerful pull. However, he fell when he tried to flick the next ball and was caught by Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

Rajapaksa then joined the skipper and tackled the KKR attack aggressively, adding 86 runs with Dhawan. The left-handed Rajapaksa made the most of the wrong lines bowled to him, striking 50 off 32 balls with five fours and two sixers. However, right after reaching his half-century, he was dismissed by Yadav when he was caught by Rinku Singh.

Punjab wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma then played a cameo of 21 runs off 11 balls, but his charge was cut short by Southee. KKR got some relief when Varun Chakravarthy claimed Dhawan, who made 40 off 29 balls with six fours.

Curran (26 off 17 balls) and Mohammed Shahrukh Khan (11 off 7) also made quickfire contributions to help Punjab reach an imposing total.

Floodlights failure hits KKR

The KKR innings was delayed by almost 30 minutes due to a floodlights malfunction. Had the floodlights not malfunctioned, it is likely that KKR would have got the full 20 overs to chase their target – this could have resulted in either a bigger win for Punjab Kings, or KKR could have achieved the target, too.

The stadium has a total of six floodlights at a relatively lower height. After the KKR openers came out to bat, the floodlight didn’t turn on and the teams were asked to wait in their respective dressing rooms. This delay of around 30 minutes proved costly because the innings came to a halt after 16 overs.

Brief scores: PBKS: 191/5 in 20 overs (Rajapaksa 50, Dhawan 40; Southee 2/54); KKR: 146/7; 16 overs (Russell 35, Iyer 34; Arshdeep 3/19) .