Together with Shashank Singh’s outstanding 68 not out, Jonny Bairstow scorched his way to an undefeated 108 as the Punjab Kings accomplished an incredible achievement at Eden Gardens. In a thrilling match, they overcame Kolkata Knight Riders by taking eight wickets after they chased down a massive 262 score.
Prabhsimran Singh’s quick fifty set the stage for PBKS after Phil Salt and Sunil Narine’s explosive opening partnership of 138 runs in only 10.2 overs propelled KKR to a commanding total of 261/6. Then Bairstow and Shashank played brilliantly, which helped PBKS accomplish the most successful chase in T20 history.
After being dropped owing to poor form, Bairstow scored a much-needed second IPL century with a score of 108 off 48 balls, helped along by eight fours and nine sixes. He has a better chance of making England’s T20 World Cup selection after Friday’s knock. Shashanka hit 28 balls for his explosive 68 not out, which featured eight sixes and two fours. Sunil Narine was still performing at his most economical level amid the carnage, with figures of 1–24. With the victory, PBKS is now ranked ninth in the standings.
In their chase, PBKS blasted a stunning 24 sixes, the most in an IPL innings, as the ball came up wonderfully for them to bat. The match saw the highest maximums ever struck in a men’s T20 contest with 42 sixes hit overall.
In the first over of his chase of 262, Bairstow misjudged a drive from Dushmantha Chameera. After hitting two fours and as many sixes off Chameera in the second over, impact player Prabhsimran Singh flicked and upper-cut Harshit Rana for a pair of sixes.
Even after Anukul Roy and Sunil Narine were brought in, Prabhsimran continued to smash boundaries, reaching his fifty in just eighteen balls with a sweeping six. Bairstow hit three fours and two sixes in the last over of the Power-play, taking advantage of Anukul Roy’s bowling. PBKS ended the phase at 93/1 when Prabhsimran was sadly run out on the final ball. Relentless, Bairstow persisted in his assault on the KKR bowlers, hitting Varun Chakravarthy for a six over long-off in the ninth over to complete his fifty off 23 balls. Bairstow hit seven boundaries, but in overs 10–13, he lost Rilee Rossouw to Narine.
As soon as Shashank joined the game, he struck two sixes and a four, setting the stage for Bairstow to score his century off just 45 balls against Harshit Rana. After that, Shashank struck three sixes in quick succession against Chameera, two more maximums, and a four off Harshit to complete his fifty. Together, they added three more boundaries to their total, and with eight balls left, they finished an incredible chase.
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