Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Arshdeep star as Punjab Kings beat Knight Riders

 MOHALI: Bhanuka Rajapaksa timed the ball well to slam a delightful half-century, while Arshdeep Singh picked three wickets as Punjab Kings opened their IPL 2023 campaign with a seven-run win via DLS method against Kolkata Knight Riders at the I.S. Bindra PCA Stadium on Saturday.

On a flat pitch and fast outfield, Punjab were threatening to score upwards of 200, reaching 100 runs in the first ten overs. But Kolkata, whose bowlers majorly struggled, picked four wickets in the second half as Punjab could make only 91 runs to end up at a score nine short of 200.

All of Punjab's batters got starts after being asked to bat first, but only Rajapaksa could reach his half-century, with the help of five fours and two sixes at a strike rate of 156.25.

In reply, after the floodlights failure caused a delay of 25 minutes in the chase, Arshdeep starred with short balls to leave Kolkata at 29/3 in five overs. Despite late blows from Andre Russell, they reached 146/7 in 16 overs, only for rain to make an appearance. Kolkata were seven runs behind the DLS par score as rain caused a premature end to the game, resulting in their loss.

Brief scores: Punjab Kings 191/5 in 20 overs (Bhanuka Rajapaksa 50, Shikhar Dhawan 40; Tim Southee 2-54, Varun Chakravarthy 1-26) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 146/7 in 16 overs (Andre Russell 35, Venkatesh Iyer 34; Arshdeep 3-19, Rahul Chahar 1-12) by seven runs (via DLS method). IANS

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