Welcome to the Mohali, India site for the second match of the 2023 Indian Premier League season, featuring the Punjab Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders. To see the most recent information, just hit the refresh button.
A seven-run victory for Punjab (DLS method)
Punjab kick up their IPL 2023 campaign with a home win despite the rain.
Play is called off in the 16th over with KKR at 146/7, seven runs below the DLS par total. We may not hear anything again from Mohali now that the drizzle has turned into a real rain.
Russell’s wicket gives PBKS a lift in overs 11–15.
136/6
Rahul Chahar was not brought into the game by PBKS until the 11th over, but the legspinner wasted no time in making an impact, taking out Rinku Singh with a catch to Raza at deep midwicket. In quick succession, Andre Russell hit fours from Harpreet Brar, sixes off Chahar, and fours off Ellis to get his batting started. Prabhsimran, who was racing back with the ball but dropped it, also tackled him. Ellis gave up 18, including two no-balls, while Venkatesh smashed a free-hit for a crucial six. In addition to hitting Curran for a six and four, Russell scored 35 runs off of only 19 balls before he was caught by Raza at deep midwicket. Shardul hit a six to close the over, but KKR still fell four runs short of the target as the rain began to fall in Mohali.
Rana loses after a strong showing in the overs 6–10 bracket.
80/4
Rana reverse-swept Ellis for four, and he also hit fours and a six from Rishi in the ninth over to help KKR score runs despite Ellis’s tight bowling. Venkatesh also got his third boundary of the over thanks to a powerful pull. Against the run of play, the KKR captain was out, clipping a ball from Raza into the waiting hands of Chahar at point. After the needed rate hit 11.2 at the halfway point, Rinku Singh surpassed Russell.
Powerplay: KKR’s pursuit is hampered by early wickets
46/3
After some delay, the chase got off, and in the first over, Gurbaz hit a six of 101 meters off Curran, followed by a four that scored 13 runs. Mandeep went out for 2 runs when he was bowled by Curran off a short delivery from Arshdeep. Up at No. 3, Anukul Roy hit a four off Arshdeep before being bowled by a short ball. KKR hauled in Venkatesh Iyer in lieu of Varun CV as their Impact Player after Gurbaz hit four off both Curran and Arshdeep, but otherwise PBKS bowled very tightly, resulting in a needed rate well over 10. Gurbaz was the third batsman to be dismissed; he was out for 22 from 16 balls, bowled by Nathan Ellis in his first over. Despite Rana’s four, just six runs were scored in Ellis’s over. With the needed rate increasing to 10.43, Venkatesh ended the powerplay by hitting two fours off Raza.
Meanwhile, the start of the second innings has been postponed due to technical difficulties with the floodlights in Mohali.
For PBKS, Rajapaksa is replaced as the Impact Player by Rishabh “Rishi” Dhawan.
SPLIT INNINGS
Punjab score 191/5 in the last overs.
Shardul’s third over yielded 10 runs, including a six by Raza. Despite having his final ball hammered for a six by Sam Curran, Varun CV still posted respectable numbers of 1-26. Narine only conceded four runs in his penultimate over and took the crucial wicket of Raza (who was batting for Zimbabwe and had only scored 16 runs from 13 deliveries). But, in his four overs, the veteran spinner gave up 1-40. Shardul’s last over was significantly better, as he only gave out 8 runs despite having unimpressive numbers of 0-43. At the end of the match, Punjab had amassed a respectable score thanks in large part to the efforts of Shahrukh Khan (two fours) and Curran (two sixes).
Rajapaksa and Dhawan go as KKR make crucial inroads in overs 11–15.
143/4
Rajapaksa reached his first IPL fifty off of 30 balls before being out to a slower delivery from Umesh in the 11th over, ending a partnership worth 86 runs off of only 55 balls. Once Rajapaksa was removed, Jitesh Sharma came to the crease and promptly hit a six over long on off Narine, a four off Umesh, and another six over long on off Southee. He stayed for 11 deliveries before he was out seeking another huge hit and was outfielded by Umesh at short third on an edge from Southee. Sikandar Raza got things going with a four, but Dhawan was out for 40 off of 29 balls when he was bowled by Varun CV. Over his first three overs, Varun allowed only 15 runs, while Umesh finished his spell with figures of 1-27.
Sixth through tenth overs: Rajapaksa and Dhawan rip KKR apart
100/1
In the seventh over, Rajapaksa continued to propel Punjab forward by hitting a four and an easy six off Shardul for a total of 13. The Sri Lankan batsman lashed Narine for four boundaries, which contributed to a fifty-run partnership in just 33 deliveries. Rajapaksa performed several clever shots as well, one a guide to the thirdman boundary off Shardul that perfectly split the goalie and the slip. Punjab reached the century mark in the tenth over thanks to Dhawan’s five fours, one of which came when he powered away a full toss from Shardul and another when he played a pull off Varun.
Power Play: Punjab’s Bold Early Advancement
56/1
In the opening few overs, Prabhsimran took control of the batting, smashing a six off Umesh, two fours in a row off Southee, and a massive six over midwicket off the New Zealand fast bowler. Then Southee got him down the leg side as he attempted a flip, and he went down. Dhawan joined in on the fun with two bold cuts off the frontfoot off Southee, who went for 26 off his first two overs after Umesh gave up only a single in his second over. Then, in the fifth over, Rajapaksa took Narine inside out for two fours and finished the over with a straight six, bringing the Kings to 50. Only six runs were scored in the last powerplay over, which Varun CV began cheaply before Dhawan put away for a four.
Coin flip/squads:
Nitish Rana, captain of KKR, wins the toss and elects to bowl. In the KKR XI, Southee, Russell, Narine, and Gurbaz are the four foreign players. Curran, Rajapaksa, Ellis, and… Dhawan had forgotten the name of the PBKS XI’s fourth international player.
Players for the Punjab Kings include captain Shikhar Dhawan, wicketkeeper Prabhsimran Singh, all-rounders Jitesh Sharma and Shahrukh Khan, all-rounders Sam Curran and Sikandar Raza, and all-rounders Nathan Ellis, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, and Arshdeep Singh.
Mohit Rathee, Harpreet Bhatia, Rishi Dhawan, Matt Short, and Atharva Taide are the substitutes.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Mandeep Singh, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Anukul Roy, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Anukul Roy, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Anukul Roy, Umesh Yadav
David Wiese, Venkatesh Iyer, Vaibhav Arora, N Jagadeesan, and Vaibhav Arora are the substitutes.
In spite of the persistent light drizzle over the past couple of days, which cast doubt on the likelihood of a rain-abandoned beginning, the sky has been clear today, if little gloomy in the morning, as Aayush reports.
Build-up:
Newly assembled Punjab Kings team, captained by Shikhar Dhawan, will play Kolkata Knight Riders in their season opener and want to get off to a good start. Punjab have announced a significant revamp of the coaching staff, with Brad Haddin and Charl Langeveldt joining new head coach Trevor Bayliss, after finishing sixth in each of the previous four seasons. This is the third captaincy change in the last eight years for Punjab. The PBKS team preview has all the details.
Likewise, KKR will be hoping that Nitish Rana can step in as a leader for them in the absence of Shreyas Iyer at the beginning of the season. In the previous season, they lost more games than they won and ultimately placed eighth. Even though they have a 60 percent winning percentage at Eden Gardens, where they usually play, the club will be looking for a smooth start to their first road game. The KKR team preview is here.
Chandrakant Pandit: The Unconventional Disruptor of the Status Quo
The new head coach for KKR is a traditionalist when it comes to team building, and it seems to be working so far. According to Rana, Pandit’s methods in the KKR camp include a strict adherence to timekeeping: “He stresses immensely on discipline. For example, no one is allowed to be late. A lot of times the overseas players tend to oversleep (during their early days in India) because they struggle to adapt to the time zones quickly,” as reported here.
