Sri Lanka’s Bhanuka Rajapaksa smashed 50 to set up a seven-run win for Punjab Kings in their rain-hit opening Indian Premier League match against Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday.
The left-handed Rajapaksa’s 32-ball knock and a late charge by big-buy Sam Curran, who hit an unbeaten 26, powered Punjab to 191-5 after being invited to bat first in Mohali. Left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh led the bowling charge with three wickets to restrict two-time champions Kolkata to 146-7 in 16 overs when rain stopped play and Punjab won by the DLS method. Rajapaksa set the tone for the team’s domination with skipper Shikhar Dhawan, who made 40, in an 86-run second-wicket stand before the Sri Lankan big-hitter departed.
Curran proved his worth with a 17-ball blitz including two sixes. Punjab replaced Rajapaksa with fast bowler Rishi Dhawan under the new “impact player” rule among other innovations in the T20 tournament.
Other new rules include captains being allowed to announce their XI after the toss and teams being able to review umpires’ decisions on no-balls and wides using the Decision Review System. A nearly 30-minute floodlight failure delayed the start of the Kolkata innings, which was soon hurt by a double strike in one over by Arshdeep.
Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz and skipper Nitish Rana also departed before Venkatesh Iyer and Andre Russell, who hit 35, attempted to take charge of the chase in a 50-run stand.
BRIEF SCORES
Punjab Kings 191 for 5 (Rajapaksa 50, Dhawan 40, Southee 2-54) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 146 for 7 (Russell 35, Arshdeep 3-19) by seven runs (DLS method).
Punjab Kings’ Bhanuka Rajapaksa plays a shot during the IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders in Mohali on Saturday. (AFP)
