‘Credit Goes to Chak de India’ – Fans react as Punjab beats Kolkata by 7 runs after rain interrupted the second game of ITL 2023

In the second game of the Indian T20 League 2023, Kolkata faced Punjab at the IS Bindra stadium in Mohali. Shikhar Dhawan led Punjab beat two times champion Kolkata by 7 runs as DLS came into effect after the match was interrupted due to rain. Sri Lanka batters Bhanuka Rajpaksha and Arshdeep Singh shined in Punjab’s victory. 

Earlier, after winning the toss, Kolkata skipper Nitish Rana called Punjab to bat first as he was expecting some moisture from the pitch. Although, his decision didn’t go well with the team as Punjab scored 109/2 in just 11 overs. Rajapaksa, along with skipper Shikhar Dhawan, added 86 runs for the second wicket. He scored 50 runs off 32 balls with the help of five boundaries and two sixes. On the other hand, Dhawan scored 40 runs off 29 balls with the help of six boundaries. 

In the end, Sam Curran and Shahrukh Khan added 23 runs for the eighth wicket to help Punjab to post a huge total of 191/5 in 20 overs. Curran scored 26 runs off 17 balls with the help of two 6s while Khan scored 11 off 7 balls. Meanwhile, Kiwi pacer Tim Southee shined with the bowl for Kolkata as he clinched two wickets. Apart from him Umesh Yadav, Sunil Naraine, and Varun Chakravarthy clinched one wicket each. 

Rain interrupted Kolkata’s exciting run chase 

Chasing 192 was not an easy task for the two-time champions as they didn’t start well. Kolkata lost three wickets in quick succession and was restricted to 29/3 after 4.2 overs. They lost opener Mandeep Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and Anukul Roy as their top order was toppled by Arshdeep Singh.

Skipper Nitish Rana, along with Venkatesh Iyer, tried to rescue Kolkata as they added 46 runs for the 4th wicket. They were dismissed by Arshdeep and Sikandar Raza, respectively. Arshdeep shined with the bowl for Punjab as he clinched three wickets by giving just 19 runs in three overs. Before rain interrupted the game, Kolkata were 7 runs behind the DLS method at the end of the 16th over as they scored 146/7. Meanwhile, fans react to Kolkata’s performance and call them unlucky. A Twitter user said, “Rain saved them from lord Thakur.”

Here are some Tweets: