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PBKS lost to KKR by five wickets on the last ball of the innings in the 53rd match of the tournament at the Eden Gardens on Monday, May 8. Punjab chose to bat first and scored 179/7 in the first innings. In response, KKR were always in the game with top-order contributions from Jason Roy (38 off 24 balls) and Nitish Rana (51 off 38 balls).
It took a brilliant effort from Andre Russell (42 off 23 balls) and Rinku Singh (21* off 10 balls), as the duo chased down 56 runs off the last 28 deliveries. However, the game went down to the wire when Russell was run out on the fifth ball of the 20th over. Rinku Singh kept his calm and hit a four off the final ball to take his side home.
Despite the loss, PBKS had a few positive takeaways from this encounter. Although the franchise is placed seventh on the points table, they are still in contention for the playoffs and will be looking to win their three remaining fixtures.
#1 Rahul Chahar's bowling
Rahul Chahar was the standout performer for the Punjab Kings with the ball. The leg-spinner took the wickets of Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana in the middle overs, returning with figures of 2/23 in four overs. He was the most economical among the bowlers who bowled at least two overs in the match.
Chahar did not have the best season coming into this match with three wickets in 10 matches at an economy rate of 8.32 and an average of 94.33. This match will give him some confidence going into the next three games against DC (home & away) and RR.
#2 Lower order contributions
PBKS were struggling at 53/3 in 5.3 overs after Varun Chakravarthy dismissed Liam Livingstone, but managed to set a target of 180 for KKR. They scored 36 runs off their final two overs, ensuring that they maximized the runs off the two inexperienced bowlers at the death - Vaibhav Arora and Harshit Rana.
Rishi Dhawan, Shahrukh Khan and Harpreet Brar added 57 runs off just 28 balls, hitting six fours and three sixes. Perhaps this will allow the likes of Dhawan and Bhanuka to play with a bit more intent, knowing their batting depth is pretty solid. If Sam Curran returns to form, their batting will be extremely potent.
#3 Shikhar Dhawan is among the runs
PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan started the IPL with a bang, scoring 225 runs in his first three innings. However, he was ruled out of a few matches due to a shoulder injury he sustained against Gujarat Titans on April 13. Since his comeback, he had scores of 1(2), 28(15) and 30(20), a couple of quick-fire starts, which he failed to capitalize on.
Dhawan scored 57 off 47 balls against KKR. At face value, it might look like a negative impact performance, considering his relatively low strike rate. However, the next best score among the top 6 PBKS batters was an 18-ball 21 from Jitesh Sharma. Dhawan had to hold an end together to give his team a shot at setting a competitive total.
However, Dhawan will definitely look to score faster in the upcoming matches in order to maximize the output at the top order. There does not seem to be any obvious weakness or lack of intent in his game, and his form will be vital if PBKS are to make it to the playoffs.
