Which IPL team prevailed yesterday? In the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Punjab Kings (PBKS) squared off at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens on April 26. Sam Curran, the acting captain for PBKS, won the toss and decided to field against KKR.
Men’s T20 cricket history was altered by the once-in-a-blue-moon chase that resulted from the PBKS vs. KKR match. Throughout the game, both PBKS and KKR consistently featured sixes. There were 523 runs scored in the game, including 42 IPL record sixes.
KKR’s Phil Salt and Sunil Narine displayed a strong opening partnership during the game, setting the tone as the team amassed an overwhelming 261 for six. Narine scored 71 runs off of 32 balls with nine fours and four sixes. Having scored 85 against Delhi Capitals and 109 against Rajasthan Royals, this was Narine’s third fifty-plus score of the season. Narine’s performance in yesterday’s game has put him in second place in the competition for the ‘Orange Cap,’ which goes to the top run-scorer. With eight matches under his belt, he has amassed 357 runs, only 73 runs behind Virat Kohli’s 430 runs scored.
However, Salt was playing at his most explosive level as he amassed his third fifty of the year in a 37-ball 75. He tallied six fours and six sixes. Other players who scored 39, 24, 28, 5, and 6 respectively were Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Shreyas Iyer, Rinku Singh, and Ramandeep Singh.
With Jonny Bairstow’s incredible century leading the batting attack for PBKS, the team set a new record for the most successful run chase in T20 cricket history. KKR’s target of 262 runs was chased down by them with eight wickets remaining.
The batsmen for Punjab King rained sixes, and in just 18.4 overs, 24 of those sixes were overturned. Shashank Singh hit eight sixes, just one short of Bairstow’s nine. Bairstow amassed an undefeated 108 off 48 balls, ably bolstered by Shashank Singh’s 68 off 28 balls and the diminutive Prabhsimran Singh’s potent 54 off just 20 balls.
