A spirited Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS) by 5 wickets in a last-over thriller on Monday at Eden Gardens. Although Punjab Kings lost their second match on the trot, there was a positive takeaway for the fans in skipper Shikhar Dhawan’s sublime knock of 57 runs.
The southpaw looked in great touch as he smashed a scintillating half-century. In the process, Dhawan registered his 50th IPL half-century. He is now the second Indian batter after Virat Kohli to have scored 50 half-centuries. Only David Warner is above the Indian duo in terms of the number of half-centuries in the IPL. Warner has the most half-centuries in the history of the tournament – 57.
It is worth noting that Shikhar Dhawan has also scored two magnificent hundreds in the IPL. Overall, the talismanic opener has amassed 6,593 runs at an average of 35.93 and a strike rate of 127.16.
In the current season so far, Punjab’s skipper has managed to score 349 runs at an average of 58.16 and a strike rate of 143.62.
But Dhawan has not been able to lift his team with his performances and Punjab are currently languishing at the seventh position on the points table.
In the match, Dhawan’s knock and late cameos by Shahrukh Khan and Harpreet Brar guided Punjab Kings to a competitive total of 179 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders. However, Punjab’s total was not enough as Kolkata skipper Nitish Rana galvanized his team with a fiery half-century. Blistering cameos from Andre Russell and Rinku Singh sealed Kolkata’s win.
Punjab’s bowlers have struggled to defend the total in IPL 2023. The same thing happened against Kolkata as bowlers leaked plenty of runs at Eden Gardens.
Punjab has not been able to perform as a team on a consistent basis and is now stuck in a mid-table logjam. The 2014 finalists are now at 10 points from 11 games and will have to win all of their remaining league matches in order to progress to the playoffs.
As many as five teams are currently tied on the points total. Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians will face off on Tuesday. The winner of this game will leapfrog to the third position on the table.
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