In an insanely high scoring encounter, PBKS created history as they chased down 262, which is now the most successful chase in T20 history. Their deep and potent batting lineup full of capable hitters finally clicked as all batsmen struck aggressively with Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh scoring phenomenal fifites along with an ineffably phenomenal ton from Johnny Bairstow. Punjab’s batsmen played aggressively and fearlessly from the start and despite a dismal and abysmal first innings where they were hit for 261/6, they held conviction in themselves to fearlessly chase down 262, which seemed like an impossible mammoth target.
Bairstow was dropped due to poor form earlier in the season but he has made a statement with the bat and showed his team why they should have faith in him. Rilee Rossouw could not do much but showcased the true potential he has in his short cameo of 26 off 16.
“Save the bowlers” someone please #KKRvsPBKS #PBKSvsKKR pic.twitter.com/HMXswxArBE
— Richard Kettleborough (@RichKettle07) April 26, 2024
KKR’s openers Sunil Narine and Phil Salt played like they do to put up a mammoth 138 run stand. Russell continued the onslaught as he played a quickfire cameo of 24 off 12. He smashed Arshdeep for several runs in an over, even putting enough pressure on him to bowl outside the line of the stumps to avoid getting hit for boundaries, only to give away wides. However he showed great acumen as he unexpectedly bowled a bouncer to catch Russell off guard and dismiss him.
Shreyas Iyer came in to bat next which seemed like a questionable decision at first as Rinku Singh would be a better hitting option for the death overs and Iyer even played sluggishly at first. However, he displayed true leadership skills by hitting a series of absolutely fearless strokes to smash 28 off 10 and help KKR blitzkrieg their way to beyond 250. However, Kolkata failed to do as much damage in the last over and were restricted to 261/6, which was still a mammoth score, undone by Punjab’s fearless video game chase.
This win gave PBKS a huge boost of around 0.500 in NRR and will also surely boost their confidence greatly to make an epic comeback this season.
“Save the bowlers” someone please #KKRvsPBKS #PBKSvsKKR pic.twitter.com/HMXswxArBE
— Richard Kettleborough (@RichKettle07) April 26, 2024
Meanwhile, KKR will be in great shock, as this is their second time of failing to defend a way above par score, after 223/6 against RR. They also almost failed to defend 222/6 against RCB. In this match only the MVP of the season(so far) , all rounder Sunil Narine was economical with an economy of just 6, with all other bowlers having rates between 13 and 18, being unbelievably costly. Their situation is similar to that of SRH, having a deadly batting lineup but a mediocre bowling attack. Both these teams need to work on their bowling weaknesses as it can prove to be dearly costly later in the season or in the play-offs. Last but not the least, PBKS’s chase was simply ineffably phenomenal and can make people doubt their own eyes.
