Punjab have made a habit of taking their matches to the last over. On Friday, they needed five runs from six balls to keep their playoff hopes alive. Shahrukh Khan took a single off the first ball, but K L Rahul holed out to Shivam Mavi at long-off. With four needed from four balls, the Punjab dug-out could have feared another meltdown. However, they sealed two points after Rahul Tripathi spilled a catch, and it went for a six. The Mohali-based franchise have climbed to fifth in the points table. Meanwhile, Kolkata remain fourth owing to a better net run rate.
Rahul steered Punjab to a five-wicket win over Kolkata. He struck his fifth half-century and is 11 runs away from reaching 500 runs for a fourth consecutive season. Arshdeep Singh and Ravi Bishnoi, too, played a pivotal role. The pacer put the brakes on during the death overs, while the young spinner brought Punjab back into the game with the wickets of Venkatesh Iyer and Rahul Tripathi. Brendon McCullum, the Kolkata head coach, would have been disappointed that the two-time winners couldn’t post a big total after making an excellent start.
Iyer on song
Kolkata were without Andre Russell, who missed the last match, and Lockie Ferguson, as both overseas players were nursing injuries. They handed Tim Seifert his Indian T20 League debut, and Shivam Mavi replaced Sandeep Warrier. Punjab, too, made changes from their last game. Fabian Allen returned to the playing 11 in place of Chris Gayle, who made himself unavailable for the rest of the tournament. Mayank Agarwal and Shahrukh Khan, too, were included in the playing 11.
Despite losing Shubman Gill early, Kolkata reached 48/1 at the end of the powerplay. Iyer managed to do most of the scoring courtesy boundaries off Allen and Nathan Ellis. At the other end, Tripathi, who made a shaky start, picked up the pace. He struck the first maximum of the match in the ninth over. Punjab bowlers struggled to break the partnership, which went past 50. Two boundaries in Ellis’ second over helped them move to 88/1 after 11 overs.
Punjab hit back
Tripathi’s quickfire knock came to an end as he holed out to Deepak Hooda at long-on. Iyer reached his half-century and, in the same over, hammered the ball over deep midwicket. The 26-year-old also scored consecutive fours off Ellis. With Kolkata heading towards a huge total, Bishnoi made another inroad. Hooda took a comfortable catch near the boundary line to dismiss Iyer for 67. New man Eoin Morgan perished quickly after Mohammed Shami trapped him in front of the stumps.
Nitish Rana played some exquisite shots and kept Kolkata’s quest for a challenging total alive. However, Arshdeep, who conceded 12 runs off the first three balls, dismissed Rana for 31. Shami ran out Seifert courtesy of a direct hit in the 19th over. Kolkata, who didn’t hit a boundary in the last two overs of the innings, finished on 165/7 in 20 overs.
A solid start
Mayank had a stroke of luck in just the second ball of the run chase when Morgan dropped an easy catch at cover. He made the most of it and started dictating the terms to Kolkata bowlers. Southee saw Punjab score 12 runs off his second over. Narine, too, was thrashed by Mayank. Punjab added 46 runs in the powerplay, Mayank scoring the bulk of it.
The absence of Ferguson and Russell meant Morgan had to bring Iyer early. Agarwal dispatched a full-toss over the ropes, and 12 came off the all-rounder’s opening over. However, Varun Chakravarthy put an end to the half-century stand. Morgan made up for his early mistake by taking an excellent catch to grab the opening breakthrough.
Rahul to the rescue
Nicholas Pooran came ahead of Aiden Markram. He received a life after Tripathi put down a straightforward catch at cover. But his stay didn’t last long. Pooran tried to hit a second successive off Varun but found Mavi at deep backward point. Rahul, meanwhile, managed to keep the asking rate in control by rotating the strike and targeting the likes of Iyer and Southee. He brought up his fifty with a six. Punjab needed 45 from 30 balls.
Markram, who took Narine to the cleaners, and Hooda perished in the space of six balls. But Shahrukh, playing his first match in the UAE leg, cleared the ropes despite a valiant effort from Iyer at the boundary line. Punjab made nine runs from the 18th over and required 15 off the last two overs. Controversy erupted when Tripathi, who rushed from deep midwicket, took a low catch to dismiss Rahul. The on-field umpires sent it to the third umpire. After a lengthy check, the third umpire concluded that the ball touched the ground.
Despite losing Rahul in the last over, Shahrukh wrapped up the match thanks to Tripathi, who spilled the ball over the rope. Both teams will be in action on Sunday, with Punjab taking on Bangalore and Kolkata squaring off against Hyderabad.
Kolkata 165/7 in 20 overs (V Iyer 67, R Tripathi 34; Arshdeep Singh 3/32, R Bishnoi 2/22)
Punjab 168/5 in 19.3 overs (K L Rahul 67, M Agarwal 40; V Chakravarthy 2/24)
Parameswaran Sankaranarayanan
Parameswaran Sankaranarayan is a sports enthusiast who has worked in print, website, and other digital platforms. He was part of the editorial team of first-ever Indian football-based website - IndianFootball.com (now defunct) - and passionately follows the latest happenings in world football. During his time as a journalist, he had the opportunity to interact with some of the iconic personalities in Indian sports and witness some memorable moments in Indian football.
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