When Jonny Bairstow and Shashank Singh Took on the 262-Run Chase Against KKR

The T20 format has changed a lot these days, thanks to the Indian Premier League, as the batters have gained an aggressive approach to smash bowlers regardless of the powerplay. The IPL 2024 season made it look easy for the batters to score 250+ totals for their team, and this was also the reason why it was called the batters season. However, there were a few games in the IPL where even high totals felt intense for the fans, which even included a thrilling chase done by the Punjab Kings. Getting your bowlers bashed for more than 250 runs in an innings may be tough, but the batting lineup of the Punjab Kings took the responsibility of winning the game for the team. In this article, we take a look at the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings and how Punjab pulled off a thriller.

26 April 2024: KKR vs PBKS

On 26th April 2024, Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings went on against each other at the iconic Eden Gardens. Winning the toss in this crucial league stage match, Punjab Kings decided to field first, which was also a good decision, considering the behavior of the pitch. For Kolkata Knight Riders, Phil Salt and Sunil Narine, their two explosive openers came out on the crease in the first innings. Known for their aggressive batting in the powerplay, both of them showed no mercy to the bowlers of Punjab Kings. In the very first over, fans were not at all excited, as Sam Curran showcased his bowling skills, giving just 7 runs, thanks to his slower deliveries, which tackled Sunil Narine.

Arshdeep Singh started off his spell from the other end, but it did not go as expected. In his first three deliveries, he exceeded just one run, but then Sunil Narine started smashing boundaries, allowing Arshdeep Singh to finish his first over for 13 runs. Since Sunil Narine started smashing boundaries, Phil Salt also decided to join him, as the KKR fans were thrilled with their batting style. As a result, Salt and Narine crossed the 50-run partnership in just 23 balls.

By the end of the Powerplay, KKR had scored 76 runs already, with Sunil Narine scoring 38 and Phil Salt scoring 35. Narine went on to continue his smashing, which allowed him to reach another half-century in the IPL 2024 edition, this time in just 23 balls. Phil Salt also contributed well to this partnership, as he scored a half-century in just 25 balls, which even allowed the team to reach a 100-run partnership for the first wicket in 48 balls.

Kolkata Knight Riders lost their first wicket at the score of 138 when Sunil Narine was dismissed by Rahul Chahar, giving his catch behind to Jonny Bairstow. Following his wicket, it seemed like Punjab Kings had made a comeback, as Phil Salt also got dismissed by Sam Curran at the score of 75 runs off 37 balls, and KKR were down at 163 for two wickets in 12.3 overs.

Venkatesh Iyer and Andre Russell were present on the crease, and they did not stop the boundary hitting, continuing the momentum that was set by Phil Salt and Sunil Narine. Shortly after that, Arshdeep Singh came into action for Punjab Kings and took the wicket of Andre Russell, who got out by scoring 24 runs off 12 balls.

But Punjab Kings had another dominant batter against them, and this time, it was the KKR skipper, Shreyas Iyer. He smashed 28 runs off 10 balls before losing his wicket to Arshdeep Singh, as Kagiso Rabada took an impressive catch in the 19th over. During the last over, Kolkata Knight Riders lost two wickets, as Rinku Singh got dismissed at the score of 5 by Harshal Patel and Venkatesh Iyer was also run out by Jitesh Sharma.

Following the explosive innings done by the KKR batsmen, the team was able to put down a massive total of 261 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. At this stage, any team would think that it is a defendable total, and the opponents stand no chance. But the Punjab Kings had some different plans for their batting lineup, which shocked not only KKR but all the teams in the IPL.

Prabhsimran Singh and Jonny Bairstow came out to open for Punjab Kings in this amazing chase. Dushmanta Chameera and Harshit Rana started off the opening spells for KKR, thinking they would be able to break the partnership with ease. But Prabhsimran started smashing boundaries early in the game, which allowed Punjab Kings to reach the score of 50 in just 21 balls of 3.3 overs.

At the last ball of the powerplay, Punjab Kings finally lost its first wicket but in the form of a runout, which was a magnificent direct hit by Sunil Narine to dismiss Prabhsimran Singh, who scored 54 runs off 20 balls only. Just when Kolkata Knight Riders had thought they dismissed an aggressive striker, Jonny Bairstow came back to his form and carried on the momentum which Prabhsimran Singh created.

Punjab Kings was able to reach the score of 100 within 44 balls and told the Knight Riders that their strikers were ready to chase the massive score of 262. Jonny Bairstow reached his half-century in just 23 balls, but that was definitely not the end of his mammoth innings. Rilee Rossouw was also giving Bairstow the much-needed support by smashing boundaries from the other end, as he was batting at a strike rate of above 150.

But in the 13th over, Sunil Narine was able to trouble Rossouw with his spin, as he handed down his wicket to the hands of Shreyas Iyer, who took the catch. The chances for Punjab Kings to win the match against Kolkata Knight Riders were slowly slipping away, as Bairstow was not able to receive the required support from the other end. However, Shashank Singh came out to bat for the team at number four, and he played dominantly well.

Shashank Singh started off well, smashing boundaries, which helped Punjab Kings reach a score of 200 in 15 overs. With 5 overs remaining and still 62 runs to chase, the match looked like it was hanging on a cliff, as a wicket could turn the tables. Jonny Bairstow was able to reach his century in just 45 balls, showcasing that he is not here to play; he is here to dominate.

For Shashank Singh, things didn’t go well in the auction, as Punjab Kings had mistakenly bought him in the auction. In the 13th over, he started off against Varun Chakravarthy by smashing two consecutive sixes before he rotated the strike to Bairstow.

The 17th over of the chase came out to be a game-changer for Punjab Kings, as Shashank Singh was able to smash four sixes against Dushmanta Chameera, taking him to score 43 runs off just 21 balls with one four and 5 sixes. He later went on to complete his half-century in just 23 balls, smashing a six against Harshit Rana to bring up the same.

The 17th and 18th overs came out to be not just game-changing, but also life-changing for Shashank Singh. He started off the 19th over against Ramandeep Singh with a massive six, with just three runs remaining for the team to chase, with 11 balls remaining. Jonny Bairstow went on to further rotate the strike back to Shashank, allowing him to finish the game by scoring 68 runs off 28 balls.

Punjab Kings pulled off the biggest chase in the history of the Indian Premier League by winning the game with 8 wickets and 8 balls remaining. Jonny Bairstow received the Player of the Match award for scoring 108 runs off 48 deliveries in this mammoth chase, as Shashank Singh was able to prove that buying him was worth it for Punjab Kings.