Arshdeep, Rajapaksa light up Mohali as Punjab Kings defeat KKR in rain-hit match

Punjab Kingsrsquo costliest recruit Sam Curran dismissed the dangerous Andre Russell at the nick of time to ensure a sevenrun victory over Kolkata Knight Riders via DuckworthLewis method in a rainhit afternoon encounter of Indian Premier League here on SaturdayChasing a target of 192 KKR were left stranded at 1467 after 16 overs when heavy downpour put spanner on their hardwork The DLS par score at that time was 153Key wicketsHad KKR not lost Russell 35 off 19 balls who was looking to walk away with the game and then Venkatesh Iyer to Arshdeep Singh in the next over the par score would have been lower before heavens opened upBhanuka Rajapaksa en route his 50 on Saturday PicAFPThe two wickets in the 15th and 16th over proved to be decisive as KKR needed 46 off 24 balls at that stage with Shardul Thakur 8 not out and Sunil Narine 7 not out were at the creaseKolkata needed 62 from 32 balls when Curran dismissed an onsong Russell and Arshdeep removed the Impact Substitute Iyer 34 which proved to be a turning point Russell was holed at deep midwicket and Iyer was snapped at pointThe burly West Indian Russell had ignited KKRrsquos hopes of a turnaround with three fours and two sixes while Iyer made the first real impact with his 28 ball knock that had three fours and a sixAlso Read IPL 2023 KKRs SWOT Analysis Strengths Weakness amp Matchwinners Of The SquadKKR had a poor start as they were reduced to 293 inside the first five overs but a 46run stand for the fourth wicket between Iyer and skipper Nitish Rana 24 brought them back in contest Then a 50run partnership between Iyer and Russell put them on course for a possible chaseBut KKR just did not have enough firepower in them on the day and Arshdeeprsquos brilliant figures of 319 in 3 overs was a gamechanger for the Red DevilsAn eventful overArshdeep bowled an eventful second over striking on the first ball to have Mandeep Singh 2 caught at deep midwicket by Curran After Anukul Roy hit him for a four the India pacer had the lefthanded batter caught at short midwicketEarlier in the first half Bhanuka Rajapaksa slammed a quickfire 50 to guide Punjab Kings to a challenging 191 for five against Kolkata Knight Riders Rajapaksa added 86 runs for the second wicket with captain Shikhar Dhawan 40 to lay a strong platform with Sam Curran 26 not out providing late flurry on a batting friendly wicketPunjab dominated the first half of the innings with aggressive batting and looked primed to cross 200 but KKR managed to pull things back in control with regular wickets after a sturdy 86run association between Rajapaksa and DhawanThe lefthanded Sri Lankan Rajapaksa made the most of wrong lines bowled to him racing to the first halfcentury for PBKS this seasonBrief scoresPBKS 1915 in 20 overs B Rajapaksa 50 S Dhawan 40 T Southee 254 beat KKR 1467 in 16 overs A Russell 35 V Iyer 34 A Singh 319 by seven runs DLS methodThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever