Punjab pull off heist

Yuzvendra Chahal and Marco Jansen led the fightback as Punjab Kings defended the lowest total in the history of the Indian Premier League. After scoring 111 all out, the hosts bowled out KKR for 95 to record a thrilling 16-run win with Chahal picking up 4/28 and Jansen returning figures of 3/17.

It was Punjab’s second victory at home. But the result looked doubtful until Chahal was introduced into the attack. The decision to open the attack with Xavier Bartlett and Jansen, instead of Arshdeep Singh, proved beneficial for Punjab. Jansen shattered Sunil Narine’s (5 off 4) stumps in the first over. Two balls later, Bartlett got Quinton de Kock (2 off 4), caught at deep square leg.

But Angkrish Raghuvanshi, brought in as the Impact Player, and captain Ajinkya Rahane settled KKR’s nerves with a 55-run partnership off 38 balls. KKR looked set for a comfortable win after reaching 60/2 in seven overs.

However, Chahal managed to break the partnership by trapping Rahane (17 off 17) lbw. The KKR captain decided to not go for the DRS, even though the replays showed that he was hit outside the off stump. After the skipper’s exit, the KKR batters completely capitulated. Raghuvanshi (37 off 28) was the next to go, dismissed by Chahal. Glenn Maxwell trapped Venkatesh Iyer (7 off 4) to leave the side 74/5. Rinku Singh was expected to play the role of the finisher, but Chahal got him stumped before dismissing Ramandeep Singh off the next ball.

Jansen accounted for Harshit Rana as KKR slumped from 62/3 to 79/8. With all eyes on power hitter Andre Russell (17 off 11), the Caribbean smashed two sixes and a boundary. However, failing to get adequate support from the other end, he fell trying to get his side to victory. “I think it was a team effort, we wanted to stay positive, take two-three wickets in the powerplay. There was turn in the pitch. I always had self-belief. I always think about how to get the batters out, I varied my pace so that the batters had to put effort into hitting,” said Chahal, who was named the Player of the Match.

Earlier, the Kings’ middle order collapsed in the face of impressive bowling by KKR. Rana led the pack with three wickets, while Varun Chakaravarthy and Narine chipped in with two apiece. For Punjab, except openers Priyansh Arya (22) and Prabhsimran Singh (30), all others struggled. Only three others — Nehal Wadhera (10), Shashank Singh (18) and Bartlett (11) — could register double-digit scores.

Brief scores: Punjab Kings: 111 in 15.3 overs (Prabhsimran 30; Harshit 3/25, Narine 2/14, Chakravarthy 2/21); Kolkata Knight Riders: 95 in 15.1 overs (Raghuvanshi 37; Chahal 4/28, Jansen 3/17, Arshdeep 1/11)

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