CHENNAI: A brutal assault from Jonny Bairstow 108 not out (48b, 8x4, 9x6) and Shashank Singh 68 not out (28b, 2x4, 8x6) enabled Punjab Kings pull off an improbable eight-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL here on Friday.
Set to chase a mammoth 262, Punjab got there with eight balls to spare and what is more it also ended up being the highest run-chase in the IPL. Almost all the KKR bowlers received a pasting with Punjab opener Prabhsimran Singh setting the tone with 54 (20b, 4x4, 5x6). The win took Punjab to eighth with six points in nine matches, while KKR still occupies second slot with 10 points from 8 games.
Earlier, Sunil Narine and Phil Salt’s smoking hot opening partnership set the tone as Kolkata Knight Riders posted an imposing 261 for six.
This was KKR’s second ever 250-plus total, both coming during the current season. Narine blasted nine fours and four sixes in his 32-ball 71 -- his third fifty plus score of the season after 85 against Delhi Capitals and 109 versus Rajasthan Royals previously.
Narine also jumped to second spot in the race for the ‘Orange Cap’ for leading run-getters with 357 runs from eight matches, 73 runs behind Virat Kohli (430 runs) who has played one match extra. Salt also was at his explosive best and blazed his way to his third fifty of the season in his 37-ball 75, studded with six fours and half a dozen sixes.
Narine’s fifty came off just 23 balls, while Salt took two more deliveries to complete the milestone as the KKR opening duo reeled off 100 runs in just eight overs. They also posted the season’s highest opening partnership of 138, eclipsing 134 by Lucknow Super Giant’s KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock in their match against Chennai Super Kings on April 19.
At 190/2 from 15 overs, KKR seemed well on course to improve upon its highest total of 272/7 that came against Delhi Capitals in Visakhapatnam on April 3.
But its middle and lower order failed to capitalise and it was Shreyas Iyer’s 10-ball 28 (1x4, 3x6) which went a long way in taking it past 260-run mark.
Narine and Salt departed in space of 13 balls and the ploy to promote Andre Russell at No 4 worked partially as he maintained the momentum scoring 24 off just 12 balls at a strike-rate of 200. There was a brief lull in the middle and 250 seemed remote before Iyer hit top gear against Sam Curran.
BRIEF SCORES: KKR 261/6 in 20 overs (P Salt 75, S Narine 71) lost to Punjab Kings 262/2 in 18.4 overs (J Bairstow 108*, S Singh 68*, P Singh 54)
