The Punjab Kings opened their 2023 Tata Indian Premier league campaign with a sombre seven run victory via the DLS method over the Kolkata Knight Riders in Mohali on Saturday.
A sparkling performance with the bat saw the home side post a competitive 191/5 after 20 overs, as Bhanuka Rajapaksa notched up a half century while skipper Shikhar Dhawan hit 40 after being put in to bat by KKR.
Arshdeep Singh then ripped through the Kolkata batting line up, who were chasing 192 for victory, claiming three wickets to leave the visitors needing 46 for victory at the start of the 17th over.
The umpires called for the covers as the rain bucketed down, forcing the players off, with the visitors still seven runs behind the Duckworth-Lewis Stern par score of 153, as they sat on 146/7 when the match was halted.
In pursuit of the massive winning margin, KKR seemed to be disturbed by the short delay before their chase started, losing two quick wickets after a 13 run opening over by Sam Curran
Sam Curran joins the wicket party ?? and Arshdeep Singh takes another ??@PunjabKingsIPL celebrate departures of Andre Russell and Venkatesh Iyer#KKR need 46 runs in 24 balls#TATAIPL | #PBKSvKKR pic.twitter.com/wQxzdhLZcX
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 1, 2023
Mandeep Singh was the first of two Arshdeep Singh wickets to fall in the second over, caught by Curran for two before Anukul Roy [4] was sent back to the dugout, caught by Sikandar Raza.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz looked aggressive early on as he raced to 22 off 16, but Nathan Ellis struck his off stump to leave the visitors reeling on 29/3.
IPL debutant Sikandar Raza conceded 11 off the sixth over when impact substitute Venkatesh Iyer, who replaced Varun Chakravathy, struck back-to-back boundaries to take KKR to 46/3 and end the powerplay.
Iyer took a single off an Ellis slower ball bouncer to bring up his side's 50 at the end of the seventh over, as he and Rana shared 46 runs for the fourth wicket.
KKR lost two more wickets, first seeing the back of their captain Rana for 24 off Raza, before Rahul Chahar accounted for Rinku Singh [4] in the following over to leave KKR on 80 with half their side out.
Andre Russell joined Iyer in the middle, and took their side to 100, continuing the onslaught on the Punjab bowlers.
Russell, who was dropped on 22, added 23 to his total, striking three fours and two sixes, before being ousted by Curran for 35 off 19, breaking the 50 run sixth wicket stand.
Shardul Thakur hit a six off his first delivery to finish an 18 run 15th over by Curran before Arshdeep struck for a third time, having Iyer caught by Chahar at point for 34.
Sunil Narine struck the left hander for a lofty six over long-on before the rain intervened with the score on 146/7.
The left-arm seamer finished with 3-19 from three overs while Curran, Ellis, Raza and Chahar claimed one wicket apiece.
DHAWAN AND RAJAPAKSA SHINE FOR PUNJAB
Earlier, an 86-run partnership for the second wicket by Punjab skipper Shikhar Dhawan and Bhanuka Rajapaksa was the catalyst that saw them post a competitive 191/5.
Rajapaksa smashed five boundaries and two sizes on his way to 50 off 32 while 40 off 29 from Dhawan saw their side to 109/2, after they'd lost opener Prabhsimran Singh early on.
Singh [23 off 12] found the boundary on four occasions [2x4, 2x6] before he was caught by wicketkeeper Gurbaz in the second over bowled by Tim Southee.
Rajapaksa and his skipper then steadied the ship with the 50 run partnership for the second wicket, sending the KKR bowlers to all parts of the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium.
The left hander struck five fours and two sixes to reach his half century off 30 deliveries, before falling to Umesh Yadav to end the 86 run second wicket stand.
With the side on 109/2, Dhawan and Jitesh Sharma then brought things back for the home side, sharing 26 for the third wicket before Sharma fell for 21 and Southee's second scalp of the innings.
The skipper fell an over later having made his way to 40, with his stumps disturbed by Chakravathy, and PBKS on 143/4 after 14.3 overs.
Raza, who shared 25 with Curran, clubbed a brisk 16 off 13, including a four and a six before KKR picked up a fifth wicket, with Rana and West Indies spinner Sunil Narine combining to end the Zimbabwean's innings.
Curran [26 off 17] and Shahrukh Khan [11 off 7], shared an unbeaten 23, scoring 15 off the final over to take their side past 190.
Southee finished with 2-54 In his quartet of overs while Chakravathy claimed 1-26, Yadav took 1-27 while Narine finished with 1-40 from their four-over spells.
PBKS: Shikhar Dhawan (capt), Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Sikandar Raza, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran, Nathan Ellis, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh.
KKR: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mandeep Singh, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Anukul Roy, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.