Punjab Kings (PBKS) openers belted Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) bowlers to all parts of the ground in the Indian Premier League (IPL) game on Saturday. Young Prabhsimran Singh stole the show with the bat as he played an outstanding switch hit against West Indian veteran Sunil Narine.
On the third ball of the 11th over of the innings, Singh pulled off the left-handed stance at the last minute and smashed Narine for a huge six. PBKS’ batter was lauded for his daring shot by the commentators as well. In the same over, Singh hit the bowler for the second six on a free hit ball after Narine was deemed to have bowled a no-ball.
Shreyas Iyer won the toss and chose to bat first, with both sides making two changes. KKR included Rovman Powell and Chetan Sakariya, while PBKS recalled Glenn Maxwell and Azmatullah Omarzai. It is a key game for KKR, who were occupying the seventh spot in the points table, while PBKS were placed fifth.
Punjab Kings display early dominance with the bat
Young Priyansh Arya gave his side a great start with the bat with a four on the first ball of the game off Vaibhav Arora’s bowling. The first over cost ten runs, as Arya hit the final ball for a four as well. Chetan Sakariya playing his first IPL game since 2023 began well by giving just three runs from his opening over. In his second over, the left-arm seamer was hit for 18 runs as PBKS began to find their groove with the bat.
Punjab reached their 50 in the fifth over when Prabhsimran hit Harshit Rana for a six. By the end of the powerplay, PBKS had scored 56 for no loss. Having found his eye, Arya hit Rana for 14 runs from just three balls in the 10th over to reach his fifty. The left-handed batter hit Andre Russell for a six but the veteran West Indian star had the last laugh. Russell had Arya caught by Vaibhav Arora for 69, which came off 35 balls with eight boundaries and four sixes.
Prabhsimran Singh reached his fifty with a four off Sakariya in the second ball of the 13th over. The youngster then hit the pacer for yet another four and then smashed a huge six to signal his intent. Varun Chakravarthy wasn’t spared either, as Singh hit the mystery spinner for 15 runs in four balls with two boundaries and a six. Just when the young PBKS batter was looking set for a tonne, he was dismissed for 83 off 49 balls. Vaibhav Arora took the wicket of Singh as Rovman Powell settled under the ball and took an easy catch.
/sportsinfo/media/member_avatars/image 59.png)
Follow Us/sportsinfo/media/media_files/2025/04/26/qzIPfK96my9CxuM3Nxbh.jpg)