Follow UsWhen the banality of sixes and fours makes cricket monotonous (as it does in the Indian Premier League (IPL) so often), games in which teams defend low-scoring totals with their bowlers shining become the palate cleanser as the sport finds its balance and vigour once again.
Something similar happened at the Mullanpur stadium in Punjab, where the Punjab Kings miraculously defended their paltry 111 runs and won the game by 16 runs.
Batting first, the home team PBKS could score only 111 against Kolkata Knight Riders’ relentless bowling. Powerplay wickets were followed by a period where Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine dominated with their mystery spin and PBKS could score only 111 as they were all out in 15.3 overs only.
While PBKS managed to get the wickets of Quinton de Kock and Sunil Narine within two overs of the powerplay, KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane and youngster Angkrish Raghuvanshi stabilised the chase. They took KKR to 62/2 in 7.3 overs. Kolkata needed only 50 runs at that point in 75 deliveries with eight wickets remaining to win the game.
That's when hell broke loose, and KKR’s control over the game was lost in a jiffy.
It all began in the eighth over of the chase when Yuzvendra Chahal pinned Rahane on his back leg after he missed a slog sweep. Rahane didn’t review the call, but the impact turned out to be from outside off stump. Rahane regretted not reviewing it even during the post-match presentation. However, it was already too late.
Chahal came back in his next over to get Raghuvanshi caught at backward point, and by then, Shreyas Iyer had understood that his spinners hold the key to this game. He brought in Glenn Maxwell as soon as he saw Chahal turning the ball, and Maxwell made an instant impact by pinning Venkatesh Iyer while he was attempting a sweep.
Even after Iyer’s wicket, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh and Andre Russell were still waiting to bat, and with KKR needing less than 50 runs, it shouldn’t have been a big deal. But the chaos was already insinuated.
At 74/5 in 10.4 overs, PBKS were sensing a miracle, and KKR just obliged, falling like a pack of cards on your table when you switched on the fan.
Chahal returned in the 12th over and bowled one that drifted across the leftie batter. Rinku was already down the crease trying to meet the ball, and the ball passed between his bat and pad as Josh Inglis affected a simple stumping.
However, Chahal wasn’t done yet! He bowled a low full toss to the new batter Ramandeep, who tried to paddle sweep and gently skied the ball, which was anticipated brilliantly by Shreyas Iyer who ran in from first slip to take that catch at leg slip.
After that brilliant over from the leggie, who hasn’t had a season of note so far, it was all on Russell to win it for KKR. But the big man from the Caribbean could only give a small scare when he smashed Chahal’s next over for two sixes and a four.
The game was getting close with less than 20 runs needed, but that’s when pacers Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen cleaned up the tail and Russell to win PBKS the game. Russell was the last man to fall as Jansen cleaned him with a short-of-a-length ball angled into him from around the wicket.
KKR had lost eight wickets for just 33 runs and the match, which was supposed to be theirs, went to PBKS and Shreyas Iyer as the home team went jubilant after the miraculous win.