Jonny Bairstow Explosive Century Leads Punjab to Historic T20 Victory at Eden Gardens
Jonny Bairstow appears to be an oddball player. Observing him can be rather frustrating when he fails to connect. But when he does, like he did at the Eden Gardens on Friday night, there are very few cleaner ball hitters in Twenty20 cricket. The English opener destroyed the KKR pace attack after being benched for the previous two games and then rejoining Punjab’s starting lineup. After the first six overs, Punjab achieved 93/1, better than their KKR rivals’ 76/0 in the first innings, thanks to his 24 run last over powerplay. And the hunt was officially on.
As the innings went on, Bairstow would not give up and nearly hushed a 55,00 strong home crowd at the storied Eden Gardens. He reached his 50 off 23 balls. Varun Chakaravarthy was called on by Shreyas Iyer when the pace attack was fading, but the opener would not be denied. He casually struck the mystery spinner for 17 runs in the eleventh over, and Punjab reached their 150 in the very next one. The Bairstow blitzkrieg proved to be too much for even the usually formidable Andre Russell, as he scored 24 runs in the twelfth over and then reached his ton in 45 deliveries.
With eight balls remaining, Punjab reached the target of 262, with to the excellent support of Shashank Singh and Bairstow, who combined for a 50-run partnership off just 27 deliveries, setting a record for the most successful run chase in T20 history. When Rilee Rossouw was out for 26 in the 13th over, Shashank, Punjab’s player of the year, contributed as well with a blistering 67 off 27.
His innings made sure there was no comeback for Kolkata, coming at a critical juncture when Bairstow was starting to seem like he was running out of gas. Before being run out, Prabhsimran Singh reached his half century in just 18 balls, setting the tone for Punjab’s relentless pursuit of a lofty mark from the off.
Narine’s Explosive Batting Puts Punjab Kings Under Pressure in IPL Showdown
After winning the toss, Sam Curran, the captain of the Punjab Kings, decided to have a bowl on a steaming, muggy, exhausting evening in Kolkata. However, Sunil Narine and Phil Salt, Kolkata’s opening duo, blew his bowlers dry with a 138-run partnership. Even worse, the Punjab bowlers’ cause was hampered by extremely poor fielding, as both openers were dropped three times in the opening ten overs. Opposing assaults have unable to stop Narine’s havoc after he was elevated to the starting position once more this season.
When Curran realized that Narine had hit the first delivery he bowled to her for a four, even the best player of the 2022 T20 World Cup was furious. In the second over, Arshdeep Singh was similarly dismissed for a six over square leg by the West Indies all-rounder. In just 23 balls, he would hit his half century before being removed for 71 by Rahul Chahar. He knocked nine boundaries and four sixes.
Salt and Narine’s Explosive Partnership Sets Kolkata on Fire in IPL Thriller
After a calm first two overs in which he scored two runs from five overs, his opening partner Phil Salt signaled his purpose by hitting Harshal Patel for two sixes and a four, raging eighteen from the third over. Kagiso Rabada was not spared either, as both openers made him appear completely ordinary, helping KKR to 50 runs in just 3.5 overs, with 21 runs coming from his first over.
By the time the powerplay concluded, Kolkata was 76/0 and Punjab had a massive mountain to climb. After that, Punjab’s attack found it difficult to keep up with the run flow as Kolkata’s 100 came up in the eighth over due to their fielders not making things easy.
As the unfortunate Punjab bowlers looked for a breakthrough, the Englishman would also reach his half century off just 25. Salt has six sixes and as many boundaries altogether in all.
Punjab didn’t let up as the evening went on, with the bowlers gradually losing the plot while the batsmen from Kolkata had a field day, scoring 137/0 after ten overs.
Andre Russell’s Explosive Batting Propels KKR to Record IPL Score at Eden Gardens
In the 13th over, Curran would strike, sweeping Salt for 75 runs, but KKR chose to move Andre Russell up to number four instead of stopping the run flow. The powerful striker would open his innings with a well-executed shot that needed him to arch his body and find the boundary marking the third man. As Punjab’s plan to contain KKR in the middle overs failed to materialize, he would build on that with a six off the bowl of Harpreet Brar in the 15th over. In the sixteenth over, Russell escaped a thick edge that wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma was unable to collect, and it crossed the boundary, raising KKR’s score to 200.
After making 24 off 12, the West Indies all-rounder would be out of the game in the same over. He would be replaced in the middle by Shreyas Iyer, who would score 28 off 10 deliveries, including three sixes and a four off the eighteenth before getting out in the following one. In the end, the Knights will record the greatest IPL score at Eden Gardens, 261/6.
However, they had no idea at the halfway point that the record would be surpassed in a few of hours with eight balls remaining.
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