IPL: Bairstow's 108*, Shashank Singh's 68* help Punjab to beat KKR by 8 wickets, get back on winning track

The 84-run partnership (off 37 balls) between Bairstow and Shashank assisted Punjab Kings to get back on the winning track after four home-game defeats.

Image by Avishek Mitra/IBNS

PBKS opener Prabhsimran Singh's 20-ball 54 knock also played a crucial role in the big score-chasing match.

For KKR, Sunil Narine took the only wicket of the PBKS innings as Prabhsimran was run out in a bullet throw by Narine.

Image by Avishek Mitra/IBNS

Earlier, PBKS captain Sam Curran won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Batting first, KKR scored 261 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs, and set a target of 262 runs for PBKS.

Besides Phil Salt's 75 off 37 and Sunil Narine's 71 off 32, Venkatesh Iyer's 39 off 23, Russell's 24 off 12 and skipper Shreyas Iyer's quicker 10-ball 28-run innings helped KKR to reach the huge total.

However, IPL 2024's highest opening-stand of 138 runs (off 63 balls) between KKR batters Sunil Narine and Phil Salt went in vain with the defeat.

Image by Avishek Mitra/IBNS

For PBKS, Arshdeep Singh took 2 wickets for 45 runs in his 4-over spell, while Rahul Chahar, Harshal Patel and captain Sam Curran got 1 wicket each.

However, Rabada did not have a good day as KKR batters scored 52 runs in his 3-over spell.

PBKS batter Jonny Bairstow won the man of the match award for his magnificent unbeaten century.

Image by Avishek Mitra/IBNS

With this victory, PBKS moved to the 8th position (6 points with 3 victories in 9 games) of the IPL 2024 points table, while KKR held its second position with 10 points in 8 matches (5 wins).

KKR will take on Delhi Capitals (DC) in their next match at the Eden Gardens on Apr 29, while PBKS will play their next match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on May 1.