Jonny Bairstow slammed an unbeaten 108 while Shashank Singh shone with 68 not out as Punjab Kings completed a record chase of 262 at Eden Gardens to secure an eight-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in an absolute run-fest on Friday.
After openers Phil Salt and Sunil Narine slammed rollicking half-centuries while sharing an opening partnership of 138 runs in 10.2 overs to propel KKR to a mammoth 261/6, Prabhsimran Singh laid the foundation with a quick fifty, before Bairstow and Shashank dished out sensational knocks as PBKS set the record of highest successful chase in T20 history.
For Bairstow, this was a much-needed second IPL century, with his 108 coming off 48 balls and aided by eight fours and nine sixes after being dropped due to poor form. Friday’s knock boosts his chances of entering England’s squad for the T20 World Cup.
Shashank’s whirlwind 68 not out came off 28 balls, laced with two fours and eight sixes. Amidst the carnage, Sunil Narine was still at his economical best, with figures of 1-24. The win now takes PBKS to eighth place in the points table.
With the ball coming nicely on the bat, PBKS hit a whopping 24 sixes in their chase, the most maximums coming in an IPL innings. Overall, 42 sixes were hit in the match, which is the most maximums struck in a men’s T20 match.
Chasing 262, Bairstow got off the mark by mistiming a drive off Dushmantha Chameera in the opening over. Impact player Prabhsimran Singh flicked and upper-cut Harshit Rana for a brace of sixes in the second over, before taking two fours and as many sixes off Chameera in the next over.
The introduction of Anukul Roy and Sunil Narine didn’t do much to stop the boundary flow as Prabhsimran got his fifty in just 18 balls with a swept six. Bairstow hit three fours and two sixes against Anukul Roy in the last over of Power-play, before Prabhsimran was run out on the final ball as PBKS ended the phase at 93/1.
But Bairstow continued to unleash carnage on KKR’s bowlers, getting his fifty off 23 balls by slogging Varun Chakravarthy over long-off for six on the fifth ball of the ninth over. From overs 10-13, Bairstow blasted seven boundaries, despite losing Rilee Rossouw to Narine.
Shashank came in to hit two sixes and a four, followed by Bairstow reaching his century in just 45 balls off Harshit Rana. Shashank then carted Chameera for three sixes, before hitting two more maximums and a four off Harshit to get his fifty. He and Bairstow hit three more boundaries collectively to complete a mammoth chase with eight balls to spare.
Brief scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 261/6 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 75, Sunil Narine 71; Arshdeep Singh 2-45, Rahul Chahar 1-33) lost to Punjab Kings 262/2 in 18.4 overs (Jonny Bairstow 108 not out, Shashank Singh 68 not out; Sunil Narine 1-24) by eight wickets
