Picture Credit: X/IPL
Shashank Singh and Jonny Bairstow's batting heroics guided Punjab Kings to their third win of the IPL 2024. Kolkata Knight Riders hosted Punjab Kings in the 42nd clash of the Indian Premier League 2024 on April 26, Friday, at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Punjab’s stand-in skipper Sam Curran won the toss and invited the rivals to bat first. Kolkata, who were coming on the back of a one-run win over RCB, got off to a favourable start.
KKR opener Phil Salt came up with a remarkable knock of 75 runs off 37 delivers, combined with six boundaries and six towering maximums. Sunil Narine, on the other hand, contributed a total of 71 runs off 32 deliveries, combined with nine boundaries and four maximums. The entire batting unit of KKR came up with decent knocks to set a target of 262 runs for their rivals.
In the second innings, Punjab Kings’ Prabhsimran Singh along with Jonny Bairstow pushed the side to the maximum. While Prabhsimran got out on 54 runs off 20 deliveries, Bairstow came up with a century. The English cricketer hit a 45-ball century to set the momentum right and at one point, made the target look easily achievable.
However, while Jonny remained stable on the pitch, they lost Rilee Rossouw's wicket soon after it. While initially, it seemed that Punjab would win the game easily, chasing down the score and defeating KKR at their den seemed impossible later. However, Shashank Singh, who has come up with many memorable knocks for his side, stood by the team's side and contributed crucial 68* runs off 28 deliveries to guide the team to other side of the victory line by eight wickets and record their third win of the season.