Published: Apr 01, 2023, 05:54 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 01, 2023, 05:54 PM (IST)
Mohali: Star opener Shikhar Dhawan has equaled a massive record with former Royal Challengers Bangalore’s skipper Virat Kohli in Punjab Kings’ opening match of IPL 2023 against Nitish Rana-led Kolkata Knight Riders that is being played at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali. The match is taking place in the first half of the double-header Saturday.
The Punjab Kings skipper played a good knock of 40 runs from 29 balls and helped his side reach a massive first-innings total of 191 runs at the loss of 5 wickets. During this knock, Dhawan was part of an 86 runs partnership with Sri Lankan heavy-hitter Bhanuka Rajapaksa.
This fifty-run partnership was the 94th occasion when Dhawan was involved in a fifty partnership during an IPL match. There is only one other batter with the same feat and that is the modern-day great Virat Kohli. Dhawan is the second batter in the history of the Indian Premier League to achieve this massive feat.
Suresh Raina with 83 fifty partnerships is the third batter on the list and after him is the current Delhi Capitals skipper David Warner with 82 fifty partnerships. The Mumbai Indians’ skipper Rohit Sharma is the fifth batter on the list as he has been involved in 76 different fifty partnerships in his IPL career.
Punjab Kings managed to put 191 runs on the board with help of Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s 50 runs knock. Shikhar Dhawan (40) and Sam Curran’s unbeaten knock (26) played important role in the innings too. KKR failed to impress that much with the ball as their bowlers leaked a lot of runs and failed to find regular breakthroughs.
Tim Southee picked two wickets. Meanwhile, Umesh Yadav, Sunil Narine, and Varun Chakravarthy grabbed 1 wicket apiece. Now the Knights have 192 runs massive target in front of them and it won’t be an easy chase considering PBKS’ bowling line-up.
