Umesh Yadav’s brilliant start in the IPL 2022 continued as he registered his best IPL figures of 4 for 23 to push Kolkata Knight Riders in the KKR vs PBKS match. The match took place at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday, April 1. KKR struggled initially in the chase, having bowled out the Kings for 137. Andre Russell came to the rescue with power strikes that fetched him 70 runs off 31 balls. This helped KKR grab their second win.
KKR got comfortable as they got over the line with 5.3 overs to spare to give their ongoing run rate a massive push.
KKR vs PBKS: Did Punjab do their part with their ball?
They did apparently. Kagiso Rabada got the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane who was striking boundaries early. Venkatesh Iyer tried to send Shreyas Iyer off as he was trying to keep KKR’s momentum with regular boundaries.
Rahul Chahar’s introduction in the second over was something that changed the course of the game. It caused much distress to the Knight Riders. The leg spinner first nicked off the skipper’s wicket as he top-edged doing a sweep while Nitish Rana was out LBW and a decision to take a review with him.
Also Read: IPL 2022: CSK vs PBKS Match 11 Prediction
KKR vs PBKS: Russel and Billings kept the momentum going
While PBKS continued with Chahar to make further damage to KKR and straighten their position, KKR were smart enough to identify their immediate threat and attack it beforehand. Chahar finished with brilliant figures of 2 for 13, not conceding a single boundary. However, Russel ensured to keep the momentum flow with his constant sixes. Billings supported him well to keep the strike rotation going.
Billings hit his first six as the fifth wicket partnership took 30 off the over. Russel arrived at a 26-ball fifty with a straight four off Arshdeep Singh. He added two more maximums to his tally ending the over in a six.
KKR vs PBKS: Limiting Punjab to a mere score of 137
Punjab faced a couple of silent overs after the powerplay from the spinners and decided to target Umesh Yadav in the ninth over. Livingstone smashed a boundary through the extra cover. However, in his attempt to end the over with a big one, he was caught in the deep.
Raj Bawa, the Ranji prodigy, and Shahrukh Khan fell cheaply. Umesh ended his spell with a double maiden, sending Brar and Chahar back to the dressing room. That reduced PBKS to 102 for 8. Smith had an unusually unproductive day while Rabada, replacing Sandeep Sharma, hit two boundaries and a six off Tim Southee before striking two more boundaries off Shivam Mavi. Rabada later fell to Russell by an excellent catch from Southee. Arshdeep was run out as PBKS were bowled out with 10 deliveries still remaining.
KKR vs PBKS: Brief scores
Brief scores: Punjab Kings 137 in 18.2 overs (Bhanuka Rajapaksa 31, Kagiso Rabada 25; Umesh Yadav 4-23) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 141/4 in 14.3 overs (Andre Russell 70*, Shreyas Iyer 26; Rahul Chahar 2-13) by 6 wickets.
