IPL 2022, KKR vs PBKS, Top Performances: Russell's 70* hands KKR second win after Umesh's 4-23

IPL 2022, KKR vs PBKS, Match 08, Top Three Performances: Umesh Yadav's 4-23 and Andre Russell' 70* help KKR beat Punjab Kings. KKR move to top of the IPL points table.

Andre Russell, Sam Billings added 90 runs off 47 balls against Punjab Kings (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Brief Scores: KKR 141/4 (Russell 70*, Shreyas Iyer 26, Chahar 13/2) beat PBKS 137 (Rajapaksa 31, Rabada 25, Yadav 23/4, Southee 36/2) by six wickets

Player of the Match: Andre Russell (70* off 31 balls and one wicket)

After the loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the previous match, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were at odds with Mayank Agarwal-led Punjab Kings (PBKS) who won their previous match against the same opponent.

Both teams made one change in their eleven, Punjab replaced pacer Sandeep Sharma with Proteas premier pacer Kagiso Rabada, whereas Shreyas Iyer-led KKR included speedster Shivam Mavi in place of Sheldon Jackson.

KKR skipper Iyer won the toss and opted to field first

KKR’s foremost pacer Umesh Yadav trapped opener Mayank Agarwal in front of the stumps in the first over of the match. Agarwal had to take the walk back to the pavilion on a personal score of just one. However, one down batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa bombarded Mavi with three back-to-back sixes to help his side to score 62 runs in just the first four overs of the innings.

Though the continuous attacking mode employed by Rajapaksa proved fatal for the batter and he holed out to Tim Southee at mid-off. Rajapaksa made 31 runs in his explosive short innings of nine balls.

However, after his wicket, Punjab continued to lose wickets in succession and were reduced to a miserable condition of 92 for six. KKR skipper Iyer made very fine bowling changes to put opposition batters in trouble.

Punjab mustered a moderate total of 137 runs before getting all-out, only due to the attacking knock of Kagiso Rabada in the final overs. Rabada made 25 runs off 16 deliveries by smashing four elegant fours and one towering six.

While chasing an ordinary total of 138 runs, KKR suffered the loss of four wickets in the first seven overs due to the breathtaking spell of Rahul Chahar and Kagiso Rabada. However, Caribbean all-rounder Andre Russell played a phenomenal knock and helped his side get past the target along with his partner Sam Billings.

On that note, let’s take a look at the top three performances from the KKR vs PBKS game:

Umesh Yadav gets player of the match for his 4-23 help KKR against Punjab Kings (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Umesh Yadav made inroads in the batting order of Punjab

Kolkata opening pacer Umesh Yadav removed Agarwal in the first over only. Before this face-off, Yadav dismissed Agarwal only once in IPL in five games and conceded only 29 runs in the same number of balls.

He returned for a second spell and took another wicket again. Liam Livingstone, who is known as a destructive batter, holed out straight to Southee at long-off. Livingstone could make only 19 runs off 16 deliveries.

Punjab were in a poor condition of 102 for six in 14 overs when Yadav came for his third spell and bagged two more wickets of Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar to leave the opposition in distress mode. Yadav scalped four wickets after conceding only 23 runs in his quota of four overs.

His partner Southee bagged two wickets in the innings, one of them was in form opener Shikhar Dhawan whom the Kiwi pacer dismissed twice before this face-off by shelling out only 37 runs off 38 deliveries in seven matches.

Read More: IPL 2022, RCB vs PBKS, Top Performances: Rajapaksa's 43(22), Odean Smith's 25*(8) take Punjab home

Rahul Chahar takes 2-13 against KKR while defending 137 (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Leggie Rahul Chahar squeezes the life out of KKR innings

After six overs into the chase, KKR were well placed on 51 for two. However talented leg-spinner Rahul Chahar dismissed well-set batter Shreyas Iyer on a personal score of 26. PBKS skipper Agarwal made the smart move to introduce Chahar against Shreyas as the latter has a poor record against the 22-year-old spinner. Chahar scalped Shreyas twice in three IPL games while conceding only 7 runs off 11 deliveries before this encounter.

Also, in the same over, Chahar trapped next batter Nitish Rana plumb in front of the stumps on duck. The batter reviewed the decision quickly, but the third umpire upheld the decision of the ground umpire.

Thus, Chahar bagged two wickets in his first over in the innings without conceding a single run. These two wickets put KKR in deep trouble while chasing a meagre total of 138 runs. Next batters - Sam Billings and Andre Russell - had to play cautiously in front of Chahar to save their wickets. Chahar finished his four over quota with economical figures of 13 for two.

Read More: IPL 2022, CSK vs KKR, Top Performances: Rahane’s 44, Umesh’s 2-20 trump Dhoni’s 50*

Andre Russell scores 31-ball-70 against Punjab Kings (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Andre Russell shows his muscle power to clinch the game for KKR

Explosive batter Andre Russell came in the middle when his side was struggling on 51 for four after seven overs. He played carefully against Chahar, though targeted young spinner Harpreet Brar and launched two sixes in an over bowled by the latter.

The 33-year-old all-rounder hammered pacer Odean Smith to all parts of the ground, to garner a staggering 30 runs in an over by smashing four elephantine sixes. He completed his first half-century in this season of IPL off just 26 balls and finished the match for his team on the winning note with two back-to-back sixes off tweaker Liam Livingstone.

What’s to come

The most successful franchise in IPL, Mumbai Indians (MI) will clash heads with Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy Stadium in Mumbai on April 2. The match is scheduled to begin at 15:30 hours IST.

Here are some of the top twitter reactions from KKR vs PBKS, Match 08, IPL 2022:

Read More: IPL 2022, RCB vs KKR, Top Performances: RCB scrape through after Hasaranga, Harshal dismantle KKR