Mohali, Lucknow: The second day of Indian Premier League 2023, Saturday, witnessed two thrilling matches.
In the first match between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Punjab Kings (PBKs), the latter made a seven-run win in a rain-washed match under the DLS method. Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s half-ton, along with Arshdeep Singh’s 3 wicket haul, contributed to PBK’s victory.
The second match featured Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) thrashing Delhi Capitals (DC) to register a 50-run victory. English pacer Mark Wood exhibited an exceptional spell with 5/14, and Kyle Myers, 73 off 38, took Lucknow to victory.
The Nitish Rana-led KKR won the toss and chose to bowl and proving that it was a pretty bad decision. PBK batters keep thrashing three of the KKR bowlers pushing their economies over ten per over during the first ten overs. Only pacer Umesh Yadav and spinner Varun Chakravarthy managed to keep their economies to 6-point something. In the first ten overs, PBK hit a hundred and seemed to touch 200 for sure. However, KKR bowlers managed to pick up four wickets in the last ten overs to restrict PBKs to 191/5.
KKR’s start during the chase seemed constructive for a lightning flash of time in the opening over as openers Mandeep Singh and Rahmanullah Gurbaz kept rotating strikes. The lack of chemistry between the openers was evident after they ran two risky runs, and in one of them, they nearly crashed into each other. When Gurbaaz sent the last ball of Sam Curran’s opening over for a six, it was reassuring to fans. But in the second over, Singh tried for the glory shot of lethal Arshdeep Singh’s delivery and got caught near the ropes.
In five overs, KKR fell to 29/3. KKR’s smasher Russel made some contributions but couldn’t take it further. When rains came, Shardul Thakur and Sunil Narine were batting.
In the second game, DC won the toss and sent LSG to bat first. In addition to Kyle Myers, Nicholas Pooran (36) and Ayush Badoni (18) took the LSG score to 193/6 in 20 overs. The tail end added 63 runs in the final five overs.
DC started the chase, all guns blazing, with 40 of the first four overs. But Mark Wood took Prithvi Shaw (12) and Mitchell Marsh (0) in his first over itself, coming down hard on the team. Except for opener David Warner, none other could make a fair contribution other than Rilee Rossouw, the South African, who scored 30 off 20. Delhi’s battle ended at 143/9 in 20 overs.