IPL 2023: Fifty from Shikhar Dhawan take PBKS to 179/7 against KKR

KOLKATA: A half-century by skipper Shikhar Dhawan and late cameos by Shahrukh Khan and Harpreet Brar guided Punjab Kings to a competitive 179/7 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Eden Gardens on Monday.

Electing to bat first, PBKS started really well, with Prabhsimran Singh hitting Vaibhav Arora for three boundaries in the first over.

Skipper Shikhar Dhawan also started the next over with two straight fours.

However, PBKS could not carry the momentum for long as Prabhsimran's topsy-turvy season continued with his dismissal for 12 off eight balls.

Harshit Rana got his wicket and Rahmanullah Gurbaz took the catch. PBKS was at 21/1 in 2 overs.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who was making his return to the side, failed to capitalise on his chance and fell for a three-ball duck to Harshit, who once again got assistance from Gurbaz. PBKS was at 29/2 in 3.4 overs.

Liam Livingstone joined his skipper and made his intentions clear by smashing Andre Russell for three straight boundaries in the fifth over.

The over gave away 19 runs and PBKS raced to 50-run mark in five overs. Varun Chakravarthy bowled the final over of the powerplay and took the prized wicket of Livingstone for 15 off nine balls.

PBKS was at 53/3 in 5.3 overs. At the end of powerplay, PBKS was at 58/3, with Shikhar (25*) joined by in-form Jitesh Sharma (1*). Shikhar and Jitesh started to build a partnership.

Halfway through the innings, PBKS was at 82/3, with Jitesh (13*) and Dhawan (33*) unbeaten at the crease. PBKS reached the 100-run mark in 11.3 overs.

In the second half, Dhawan upped the attack by sweeping, reverse-sweeping everything in his way.

Shikhar-Jitesh brought up their 50-run partnership. Just when the duo was looking to take off, Varun dismissed in-form Jitesh for 21 off 18 balls. PBKS was at 106/4 in 12.3 overs.

Shikhar raced to his half-century in 41 balls with a six, consisting of nine fours and a six.

However, the PBKS skipper could not convert his fifty into a big score, falling to KKR skipper Nitish Rana for 57 off 47 balls after he was caught by Harshit at long-on. PBKS was 119/5 in 14.4 overs.

At the end of 15 overs, PBKS was at 124/5, with Rishi Dhawan (5*) and Sam Curran (3*) unbeaten.

Sam Curran departed for 4. Suyash Sharma got the wicket with Gurbaz taking the catch. PBKS was at 139/7 in 17.2 overs.

PBKS managed to score big in the final two overs. They scored 15 runs in the 19th over and followed it with an even bigger final over worth 21 runs, with Shahrukh Khan hitting Harshit Rana for two fours and a six Harpreet Brar smashing a six.

PBKS finished at 179/7, with Shahrukh (21*) and Harpreet (17*) unbeaten. Chakravarthy was the pick of the bowlers for KKR, taking 3/26 in four overs. Harshit took two wickets while Suyash and Nitish got one each.