Published: Apr 01, 2023, 05:11 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 01, 2023, 05:11 PM (IST)
New Delhi: Shikhar Dhawan’s PBKS (Punjab Kings) is taking on Nitish Rana’s KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders) at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in the first half of the double-header Saturday. KKR won the toss and elected to bowl first. They managed to get an early breakthrough as they dismissed Punjab opener Prabhsimran Singh in the second over itself.
He provided the team with an explosive start but his inning was cut short by the NZ T20I skipper Tim Southee. However, when everyone thought KKR might be able to utilize this, they were hit by the Bhanuka Rajapaksa storm.
Rajapaksa joined Dhawan in the middle and unleashed havoc upon the KKR bowlers. He smashed the first half-century for his team of the season and brought his team back into the match single-handedly. He also successfully dismantled Narine’s magic and didn’t allow him to help KKR with the ball.
The Sri Lankan heavy hitter smashed four boundaries in Narines two over he faced. It included three four and a maximum. He even took over India’s legendary skipper to achieve a stunning feat. Rajapaksa now has scored more boundaries in this match against Sunil Narine than MS Dhoni has scored in his whole career.
The Chennai Super Kings skipper has only hit three boundaries against the Windies bowler throughout his career. 1 in ODIs and two in T20 matches and all of the were fours. Rajapaksa not only smashed three 4s in this match but also a tremendous six.
Punjab Kings’ inning fell down with Rajapaksa’s departure. He got out after scoring 50 runs off 32 balls. Following his departure, PBKS started losing wickets at regular intervals and lost five wickets on the score of 168 by the 18th over.
