Kings of the Punjab 191 for 5 (Rajapaksa 50, S Dhawan 40, Southee 2-54) batting Kolkata Knight Riders 146 for 7 (Russell 35, Arshdeep 3-19) with seven overs (DLS method)
In most matches, Kolkata Knight Riders were behind the game against Punjab Kings.
But Russell dropped the next ball to Curran. Venkatesh was devastated in the next phase. And DLS rose to the occasion. Despite Shardul Thakur and Sunil Narine scoring 15 off five balls between them, the Kings held on to hold on to the lead, and after rain stopped play, the DLS scoreboard showed the hosts seven in front, enough to drop two points from their season opener.
The Kings were very good with the batting as well, especially Bhanuka Rajapaksa who made a 32-ball 50. His knock lifted the Kings to 100 for 1 in ten overs, but they failed to find a boost at the death, finishing at 191 for 5. At the time, it looked like a score that it was too close to an easy place to hit. In the end, it was enough.
Player Results
When Rajapaksa got out in the 11th over, he did the final job for the Kings to post the big money. His replacement, Rishi, conceded 15 in the only over he bowled.
Not realizing the Knight Riders are falling
Knight Rider’s attacks always give the impression that they are going to be overpowered or crash and burn. What’s more is their regular captain Shreyas Iyer is also missing. They went with one of their leading sixes, and both Mandeep Singh and Anukul Roy tackled Arshdeep’s accurate short ball that went right down their throats.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz shone with three fours and sixes to make 22 runs off 16, but when he fell as a third wicket, the rest of the chase was an uphill battle. Nitish Rana made 24 in 17 and Rinku Singh also got out cheaply, leaving old hands Venkatesh and Russell to do the repair work.
In the end, it was Curran who brought the victory with a low ball that Russell pulled to midwicket. Narine and Shardul gave the Knight Riders a brief glimmer of hope, but that was it.
A solid performance by Punjab Kings
Kings were introduced to the toss, and Prabhsimran’s 12-ball 23 was a good start for them. Although Shikhar was hungry for batting, it did not affect the Kings’ scoring rate due to Rajapaksa’s batting, especially Narine. In all, Rajapaksa hit four fours and a six to reach his half-century in 30 balls.
After his dismissal, Jitesh Sharma took over, hitting 21 for 11. Although Varun bowled Shikhar for 40 to make it 143 for 3 in 14.3 overs, Kings needed 200-plus. But a couple of quiet overs from Varun prevented them from progressing. Raza, Curran and Shahrukh Khan combined for small cameos to score 53 off 37 balls between them at the death, and while this disappointed the Kings, Arshdeep’s new-ball return in the second innings ensured their victory.
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx