Bairstow Dominates As Punjab Kings Make History With Record-Breaking Victory In IPL 2024
Witness Jonny Bairstow’s sensational century as Punjab Kings makes a memorable triumph over Kolkata Knight Riders with an unprecedented chase of 262 runs in IPL 2024 showdown.
On an unstoppable six hitting night, PBKS, chasing 262, reached their target with eight balls remaining.
Kolkata Knight Riders 261 for 6 (Salt 75, Narine 71, Arshdeep 2-45) were defeated by Punjab Kings 262 for 2 (Bairstow 108*, Shashank 68*, Prabhsimran 54, Narine 1-24) by eight wickets.
In the 2024 Indian Premier League, run-scoring and six-hitting will only go up, much like the warmth throughout the country. With eight balls remaining, Punjab Kings achieved the highest-ever successful chase in T20 history by hunting down 262 against Kolkata Knight Riders in an incredibly brutal batting display. They combined to establish the record for most sixes in a T20 match with 24 hits, six more than KKR could muster.
Jonny Bairstow surged back to form during this sequence, smashing his second IPL hundred. One of the season’s biggest discoveries for PBKS, Shashank Singh, hammered 68* off just 28 balls, eight of which went over the boundary. Sunil Narine stood out among all of that, scoring 4-0-24-1 for KKR.
That occurred after he hit 71 off of 32 deliveries in an opening partnership of 138 in 10.2 overs, continuing his incredible season at the bat. Opening partner for Narine, Phil Salt, also used his form and a little bit of good fortune to get from 37 to 75. But it was all for nothing.
Narine And Salt Goes Big For KKR
Within the first seven overs, PBKS dismissed Salt twice and Narine once, and the two explosive openers raced to 83 for no loss within that span. KKR had added 54 more runs to their tally by the time they reached the midway mark of their innings. In the eighth over, Narine reached his fifty, reaching it up 23 balls, and in the following over, Salt reached his.
Forecaster projected a KKR total of 282 at the 10-over point.
When Rahul Chahar caused Narine to mishit a powerful shot and find Bairstow at long-on, PBKS was able to eventually split the opening partnership. Who knew that later that day Bairstow would have so much influence?
Andre Russell was brought up to No. 4 by KKR and came in during the 13th over. He squared up to his second ball and took Sam Curran for four to deep third. After that, Chahar bowled a quiet 14th over, giving up just seven runs, but it was short-lived as Russell, Shreyas Iyer, and Venkatesh Iyer combined to knock 85 off the next six overs after hitting Curran for 6, 4, 6, and 6.
If it had been made before this season, KKR’s 261 for 6 would have been the second-highest IPL total ever. In actuality, it was only the eighth highest at the end of the game, having only been the seventh highest at the midway point.
Prabhsimran Dominates The Powerplay
After PBKS responded in kind with their highest-ever powerplay score of 93 for 1, Eden Gardens was still in shock from the magnitude of the home team’s batting effort. Despite not having to face a ball in the sixth over, Prabhsimran Singh controlled this session. He was brought on as an Impact substitute at the beginning of the chase, and he blasted 54 off 20 balls. His innings was capped off when he took KKR rookie Dushmantha Chameera for 23 runs in the third over. Throughout his innings, he hit five sixes, one of which was a scoop off Chameera over a fine leg.
After that, Bairstow hit 4, 6, 4, 4, 6 off Anukul Roy in the sixth over. Prabhsimran was run out on the final ball of the powerplay after he had answered the call for a quick single from the non-striker’s end.
Also Read: IPL Winners List From 2008 to 2023: Records, Teams, and Historic Moments
Bairstow’s Sensational Ton
PBKS benched Bairstow after he only allowed 96 runs in his first six innings of the season. In his return game, he again took his time getting going, managing to score just 12 from his opening 10 balls. However, his attack on Roy was a sign of things to come. Though Roy dropped him while throwing himself to his left at long off and was unable to stop the ball from going for six, he did find some assistance in the ninth over. Bairstow’s fifty, from 23 balls, was brought up by that drive off Varun Chakravarthy.
In the eleventh over, Bairstow attacked Varun once again, hitting him for a six over long-off, a four over the bowler’s head, and a swat-pull for another six. PBKS needed 52 from 24 when Bairstow reached his century off 45 balls to conclude the 16th over.
In Comes Shashank Singh
When Narine removed Rilee Rossouw for a 16-ball 26 in the 13th over, Shashank arrived at the crease. Amazingly, Narine gave up just two fours and a six in his four overs. He had never batted higher No. 6 for PBKS before, but he showed he was enjoying the promotion right away by hitting Varun for two consecutive leg-side sixes after he had just faced three balls.
When the final four overs got underway, the odds were clearly in favor of PBKS. Shashank hit three sixes off Chameera in as many overs—a swat, a scoop, and a pull—while PBKS’s needed rate dropped to less than two runs per ball. Shashank smacked three more sixes off Ramandeep Singh and Harshit Rana to bring the match to a hasty conclusion. The fans started to leave before the official result was announced. When Bairstow scored his hundred, Shashank was batting on 25, and at the conclusion of the match, Bairstow was on 108 and Shashank was on 68.
Sam Curran’s View On The Record Breaking Chase
The captain of the Punjab Kings declares, “Stats definitely going out of the window,” following his team’s world-record chase of KKR.
Following Punjab Kings’ demolition of the record books with eight balls remaining, skipper Sam Curran wondered if cricket was becoming a completely different game.
“Isn’t baseball becoming more and more like cricket? “It was simply amazing,” Curran remarked during the post-game ceremony. “Where should we begin? ecstatic to have received two points. These kinds of games are unreal, but more significantly, as a team, we’ve had a difficult few weeks [this was the Kings’ first victory in five games] and we’ve really persevered. We’ve pushed teams to the brink, so I believe we should disregard the results. I believed that we genuinely deserved to win.”
Because of the manner that hitters have elevated the bar for their hitting, reaching 300 runs has been more and more likely at various times this season. This season has produced seven of the top eight IPL totals; PBKS, with their record chase at Eden Gardens, comes in at number six. The contest on Friday also yielded the most sixes (42) in a Twenty20 game. It exceeded the 38 hits scored by Royal Challengers Bengaluru and SRH in Bengaluru last week, as well as by Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians in Hyderabad last month. Curran attempted to interpret the chaos.
“Yeah, I think loads of different things [have added up to this],” Curran replied. “I believe these guys’ training methods are quite effective, and they have a lot of ball striking endurance. I suppose it’s the coaches, our training methods, and our self-assurance. Let’s face it, occasionally you get a wide call on little grounds with a little dew on them and the ball gets wet.
After reviewing what you believe to be a dot ball, you discover that it is wide. Next, an additional ball. Thus, while I wouldn’t say it’s a batsman’s game, it is exhibiting… Everyone wants to continue seeing sixes, I’m sure. Statistics is clearly going out of style, in my opinion. Winning those little moments is what matters most.”
Curran was also happy with how Jonny Bairstow, the destroyer-in-chief that evening, recovered from a run of poor performances that had seen him dismissed from the team.
Bairstow has also experienced a difficult winter in India with England. He is the only player from England who has participated in the 50-over World Cup, the IPL, and the five-Test series earlier this year, and who has found it difficult to contribute during his extended stay in India. However, Bairstow replaced Liam Livingstone on Friday and quickly resumed the intense pursuit. With eight fours and nine sixes in 108 off 48 balls, he did not lose.
“Very happy for Jonny. Evidently, he’s been on the road for a very long period,” Curran remarked. “After being out of the lineup for a few games, he appeared to be anxious to rejoin the squad and proved what an incredible player he is. I’m therefore quite happy for him.” Shashank Singh, who blasted an undefeated 68 off 28 balls in an uninterrupted 84-run stand for the third wicket off 37 balls, also left Curran delighted.
“We gave him that extra bit of responsibility to go in and No. 4 and he’s been the find of the season for us,” Curran said regarding Shashank. “I’m simply incredibly happy with him and Ashutosh [Sharma], who have been just fantastic. After everything that our group has been through in the past several weeks, as I mentioned, you will appreciate those little victories if you can take home two points. It’s also not a meager victory. Being able to defeat that team in Kolkata is a huge victory. Proud of everyone, including the coaches and the team.”
When Bairstow was making his comeback and faced with a chase of 262, what was his strategy? “Attempt to strike it as hard as you can,” Bairstow grinned. “To be honest, I’ve never participated in a game where 260 goals were scored. See, you have to leave if it’s in your neighborhood. We actually had a few calm overs against Sunil [Narine, who finished with figures of 4-0-24-1], and we did so because we knew how crucial he is to their side and that a chase of that magnitude requires fewer wickets lost against someone like that.”
To top off a run of five straight home games, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Shreyas Iyer wants his team to respond forcefully when they play the Delhi Capitals next.
“To be honest, both the teams played tremendously and I personally feel that this is one of those games where you have to go back to the drawing board and see to it that you introspect on the areas where you went wrong,” said Shreyas. “It hurts, especially when you bat first and put 260 on the board and can’t defend, but it’s also a great lesson for all the players, especially the bowlers.” We have one more game left, therefore it’s critical that we evaluate the situation and generate better concepts.”
