Chasing a target of 192, KKR were stuck at 146 for 7 after 16 overs when a heavy downpour put the wrenches on their hard work. The nominal DLS score at that time was 153.
Had KKR not lost Russell (35 off 19 balls), who was looking to leave the game and then Venkatesh Iyer to Arshdeep Singh in the next over, the face score would have been lower before the heavens opened.
The two wickets in the 15th and 16th over proved decisive as KKR needed 46 from 24 balls that stage with Shardul Thakur (8 not out) and Sunil Narine (7 not out) were in the corner.
Calcutta needed 62 from 32 balls when Curran dismissed a Russell in the song and Arshdeep removed Venkatesh Iyer (34) ‘Impact Substitute’ which proved to be a game changer. Russell was pocketed deep in mid-wicket and Iyer was snapped on the point.
The burly West Indian Russell had sparked KKR’s hopes of a turnaround with three fours and two sixes, while Iyer made the first real impact with his 28 ball hit that had three fours and a six.
KKR got off to a poor start as they were reduced to 29/3 in the first five overs, but a 46-run stand for the fourth wicket between Iyer and skipper Nitish Rana (24) brought them back into the race. Then a 50-run partnership between Iyer and Russell set them well on course for a possible chase.
But KKR lacked firepower that day and Arshdeep’s brilliant figures of 3/19 in 3 overs were a turning point for the ‘Red Devils’.
Arshdeep bowled an eventful second, hitting first ball to have Mandeep Singh (2) caught in the deep half wicket by Curran. After Anukul Roy hit him for a four, the Indian pacer caught the left-handed batsman at short half wicket.
Going into halftime, Bhanuka Rajapaksa hit a rapid-fire 50 to lead the Punjab Kings to a challenging 191 for five against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Rajapaksa added 86 runs for the second wicket with captain Shikhar Dhawan (40) to lay a strong platform, with Sam Curran (26 not out) providing a late flurry off a friendly batting wicket.
Punjab dominated the first half of the innings with aggressive batting and looked poised to go over 200, but KKR managed to regain control with even wickets after a solid 86-run partnership between Rajapaksa and Dhawan.
Sri Lankan southpaw Rajapaksa has made the most of bad lines bowled at him by KKR bowlers, running up to the first half century for PBKS this season.
Riding on the momentum provided by Prabhsimran Singh (23) at the summit, Rajapaksa ensured Punjab maintained its dominance while Dhawan played second fiddle throughout his tenure.
They did their job accurately to score nearly 10 run overs, adding 86 runs from just 55 balls for the second wicket.
The Sri Lankan batsman bowled the KKR, finding gaps and clearing strings at will and died only after scoring 50 balls from 32 with five fours and two sixes.
Jitesh Sharma hit a pair of sixes to hit a quick 21 from 11 while playing his first IPL match, Raza hit 16 from 13 with a six and a four each.
The start of the second inning was delayed approximately 30 minutes due to the malfunction of the six floodlights installed here at PCA Stadium.
(With inputs from PTI)
