A searing spell from Umesh Yadav, followed by a savage onslaught from Andre Russell, helped Kolkata Knight Riders beat Punjab Kings in the eighth match of IPL 2022 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. With only 138 to defend, only Rahul Chahar put up any resistance for Punjab. Earlier, Bhanuka Rajapaksa set the tone for Punjab, but the Kolkata bowlers ruled roost once he got out.
Punjab Kings 137 in 18.2 overs
Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bowl citing dew as the reason. Despite last match's batting collapse, KKR went with an extra bowler, Shivam Mavi, for Sheldon Jackson, presumably because of uncertainty over Andre Russell’s fitness. Sam Billings kept wickets instead. Kagiso Rabada played his first match of the season as well, for Punjab, instead of Sandeep Sharma.
Umesh continued his dream run in IPL 2022. He trapped Punjab captain Mayank Agarwal leg-before for one in the first over. Rajapaksa came out all guns blazing, smashing two fours off the first four deliveries he faced. Then, in the fourth over, he went berserk, taking Shivam Mavi for 4, 6, 6, 6, racing to 31 in just 8 balls. But Mavi had the last laugh when Rajapaksha mistimed the next delivery and was caught by Tim Southee.
Southee then induced an edge off Shikhar Dhawan, and Punjab finished the Powerplay on 62/3. The introduction of two spinners, Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, slowed down the Punjab innings. Recalled in the ninth over, Umesh had Liam Livingstone caught at the long off.
Narine got young Raj Bawa next, leaving Punjab at 85/5 after 10 overs. After a couple of tight overs from his spinners, Iyer recalled Southee, who immediately dismissed Shahrukh Khan for a duck. Umesh signed off with a double-wicket maiden, taking out Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar, to finish with his best IPL figures of 4-1-23-4.
As with the last match, Shreyas backed his main bowlers, and bowled out Umesh, Southee, Narine, and Chakravarthy by the 17th over. After another expensive over from Mavi, Russell finally got to bowl in the 19th over. He forced a rampaging Rabada to mistime his first ball, and Southee held another brilliant catch. Arshdeep Singh was run out next ball, and Punjab were all out for 137 inside 19 overs.
Kolkata Knight Riders 141/4 in 14.3 overs
Kolkata did not start well. They lost the openers early, but Shreyas and Billings looked to stabilise the innings. When Chahar got Shreyas and Nitish Rana in the same over to reduce Kolkata to 51/4, Punjab seemed to have the control of the match. However, Russell had other plans.
He scored just two off the first six balls he faced, being watchful against Chahar, who bowled to an excellent length. Then he cut loose against Brar, hitting two sixes to release the asking rate pressure. He again played Chahar carefully and yet again went berserk in the following over, this time against Odean Smith. The 12th over, bowled by Smith, went for 30. Russell smashed three sixes in the over and Billings one.
Once Chahar bowled out, Russell took hardly any time to finish the match. His unbeaten 70 off 31 had eight sixes and two fours. Kolkata Knight Riders won the match by six wickets with 33 balls remaining.
Brief scores:
Punjab Kings 137 in 18.2 overs (Bhanuka Rajapaksa 31; Umesh Yadav 4-23) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 141/4 in 14.3 overs (Andre Russell 70*; Rahul Chahar 2-13) by 6 wickets with 33 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Umesh Yadav.