PBKS Make History: Lowest Total Ever Defended in IPL Thriller

PBKS made it another record-breaking day in the Indian Premier League by defending a low total against Kolkata Knight Riders. The team in red managed just 111 runs on the board, but KKR were unable to chase the target. This win means that PBKS have defended the lowest total in IPL history. This is the same team that chased the highest total in IPL history.

PBKS introduced Two debutants

PBKS are having a good season, but they are dependent upon individual players. Players like Maxwell, Stoinis, and a few others have failed to deliver. Ricky Ponting & Co. were forced to make a couple of changes. Xavier Bartlett replaced the injured Lockie Ferguson. Josh Inglis came in for Stoinis. KKR also replaced Moeen Ali with Anrich Nortje.

Explosive start but a big collapse

Punjab openers have performed well in most matches. They once again started by taking on the bowlers. Priyansh Arya was the first player to get dismissed when the score was 39. He scored 22 in 12 balls. Shreyas Iyer fell for a duck in the very same over. Harshit Rana dismissed both batters in the fourth over.        

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Josh Inglis was beaten easily by Varun Chakaravarthy’s googly on two. Harshit removed the other opener and left PBKS on 54 for four. The rest of the batting order also failed to live up to their expectation. Maxwell, Nehal, and Shashank were unable to score big. The home team was forced to use their impact sub. Suryansh Shegde came in the middle but failed to make an impact. In the end, PBKS only managed 111 runs on the board. Rana was the highest wicket-taker with three. Varun and Narine added a couple of wickets each to their total.

Punjab bowlers win the game

The home crowd was disappointed after a low score. Their bowlers came in with a lot of intent. Sunil Narine was removed in the very first over by Marco Jansen. His partner Quinton de Kock followed him in the very next over. Xavier Bartlett took his first IPL wicket.

Ajinkya Rahane and Raghuvanshi tried to build a stand. They added 55 runs for the third wicket. Yuzi Chahal came into the attack and showed his worth after five games. He removed the dangerous Rahane. KKR’s skipper didn’t take a review, and had he taken it, then he would have been safe.

Chahal also removed Raghuvanshi in his next over. The youngster was looking dangerous for his 37 runs. This was the highest individual total of the night. Maxwell did his work with the ball by removing Venkatesh Iyer. Chahal continued his hunt for wickets. He removed Rinku and Ramandeep Singh cheaply. The leggie had four wickets in three overs.

Andre Russell kept his composure as he only had three wickets at the other end. Harshit Rana looked good, but an inside edge on Jansen’s ball got his wicket. Arshdeep took out Vaibhav Arora in the next over. Jansen sealed the deal by bowling out Russell towards the end. PBKS won the match by 16 runs.