Cricket Highlights, 02 April: IPL 2023 (Match 2) – Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders (Match 2) – Highlights

Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders have not had a good start to the 16th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). They have been defeated by 7 runs against Punjab Kings in their first match by the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern (DLS) method.  

Chasing the target of 192 runs set by the Kings in Mohali on Saturday (April 1), Knight Riders collected 146 runs after losing 7 wickets in 16 overs. After that, the match could not be played on the field due to rain, and the Kings won by 7 runs due to the DLS method.  

Knight Riders did not get off to a good start on this day. They lost three top-order batsmen scoring just 29 runs. Coming into the attack in the second over of the innings, Arshdeep Singh sent back Mandeep Singh (2) and Anukul Roy (4) between 4 balls.  

Afghan batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz started well. He was playing as a debutant in the IPL, but after playing an inning of 22 runs from 16 balls, he had to return after being bowled by Nathan Ellis. Venkatesh Iyer and skipper Nitish Rana tried to bring the team back into the fight for the fourth wicket. 

However, their 46-run pair was broken by Zimbabwean all-rounder Sikandar Raja, who came down to play IPL for the first time in his career. Nitish returned to the dressing room after scoring 24 runs off 17 balls.  

Then Rahul Chahar came into the attack and sent new batsman Rinku Singh (4) back to the pavilion. Andre Russell and Venkatesh brought the team back into the fight with a sixth-wicket partnership. Knight Riders lost rhythm again when Russell fell victim to Sam Curran after playing an inning of 35 off 19 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes.  

Following Russell’s path, Venkatesh also left the crease. He returned to the dressing room after scoring 34 runs off 28 balls by giving away a catch on Arshdeep’s delivery. Then Shardul Thakur and Sunil Narine came to the crease. Both started to challenge Punjab’s bowlers by hitting sixes.  

When 46 runs were needed in the last four overs to win, the match was interrupted by rain. In the end, Knight Riders had to accept a defeat by 7 runs in the DLS system if the game was not played on the field. Shardul scored 8 runs off 3 balls with a six, and Narine remained unbeaten with 7 runs in 2 balls with a six.  

Arshdeep Singh was selected as the player of the match after he snapped up 3 wickets for just 19 runs in 3 overs. Besides, Sam Curran, Nathan Ellis, Sikandar Raza, and Rahul Chahar took one wicket each.  

It rained even before the start of the game in Mohali. Due to this, KKR captain Nitish Rana decided to bowl after winning the toss. However, the Knight Riders’ bowlers failed to prove the correctness of the captain’s decision. 

Kings’ young batsman Prabhsimran Singh took on experienced Tim Southee and Umesh Yadav from the beginning. This opener scored 23 runs in the first two overs of the innings. 

Bhanuka Rajapaksa came to the crease after Prabhsimran’s dismissal. He formed a partnership of 86 runs with captain Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan scored 40 off 29 balls before being bowled by Varun Chakaravarthy. Bhanuka played the highest innings of 50 runs for the team before being dismissed by Umesh. His innings of 32 balls were decorated with 5 fours and 2 sixes.  

Although the middle order and lower order batsmen could not play big innings, the Kings collected a big score of 191 runs after losing 5 wickets at the end of the allotted 20 overs in an effective inning by the batters.  

Tim Southee took the maximum number of 2 wickets at the cost of 54 runs in 4 overs for Knight Riders. Apart from this, Umesh Yadav, Sunil Narine, and Varun Chakaravarthy picked up one wicket each.

Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders Scoreboard

Punjab Kings – 191/5 (20.0)

Kolkata Knight Riders – 146/7 (16.0)

Result – Punjab Kings won by 7 runs (DLS method)

Player of the match – Arshdeep Singh

Arshdeep Singh

Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders Playing XIs