IPL 2022 has begun. The tournament has seen several exceptional performances. Many young players have made a name at the start of the tournament. Umesh Yadav is having an exceptional start to the tournament. In the absence of Deepak Chahar, he is making a strong case for himself in the white-ball circuit. The game on Friday saw the Kolkata Knight Riders take on the Punjab Kings. The Kolkata won by 6 wickets in hand. Umesh and Andre Russell were the top performers. Here is an in-depth look:
IPL 2022, Punjab Kings Playing XI:
Mayank Agarwal (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Bhanuka Rajapaksa (wk), Odean Smith, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Raj Bawa, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar.
IPL 2022, Kolkata Knight Riders Playing XI:
Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Sam Billings (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Shivam Mavi, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.
IPL 2022, PBKS VS KKR, Punjab Kings Batting Innings:
The Punjab King’s batting innings started on a high note. Shikhar and Mayank were looking solid. But the initial strikes were made by Umesh Yadav. He took out Mayank but hit him on the pads. Next in was Bhanuka Rajapaksha. Bhanuka was looking in supreme touch. He smacked Shivam Mavi for 20+runs in an over. Rajapaksha played the blinder of an innings in which he scored 31 of 9 balls. Liam Livingstone then walked in and tried to hold the innings together. But Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine had already spun their web around the PBKS’ batters.
Tim Southee also bowled an amazing spell. Liam Livingstone handed out a catch to Southee. This catch was match-changing. Southee covered 60 meters of the ground initially and then dived to take this perfect catch. Shahrukh Khan also couldn’t hang in. KG Rabada hit a few meaty blows in the second spell of Tim Southee to take PBKS to a respectable 137. Odean Smith in the wake of getting on strike got Arshdeep run-out and the PBKS team couldn’t play their full quota of 20 overs!
Brief Scores:
- PBKS, Total: 137/10.
- Bhanuka Rajapaksha: 31 off 9.
- Umesh Yadav: 4/23.
- Tim Southee: 2/36.
Kolkata Knight Riders’ Batting Innings:
The KKR batting innings were doing well till KG Rabada tried to play spoilsport. He sent back Ajinkya Rahane as Rahane handed a catch to Odean Smith at gully. KKR was 14-1. Venky Iyer and Nitish Rana too didn’t contribute much. Rahul Chahar picked the crucial wicket of Shreyas Iyer. Iyer was out at a score of 26 of 15 balls. Venky and his poor run continued with him scoring a mere 3 runs of 12 balls.
But Dre Russ walked in at number 6 and completely obliterated the bowlers. He took the spinners down piece by piece. Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar were taken to the cleaners. The pressure built by the initial bowlers couldn’t be kept. Russell was talking in sixes. Odean Smith also leaked runs at 19.5 runs in an over. Finally, Russell remained not out scoring 71 of 31 balls! KKR reached the target comfortably with 6 wickets in hand.
Brief Scores:
- Andre Russell: 70 of 31 balls.
- Shreyas Iyer: 26 off 15 balls.
- Rahul Chahar: 2/13.
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