CHENNAI: Punjab Kings did not come into the ongoing Indian Premier League season with their full strength. If Jonny Bairstow getting ruled out was an early blow, that Liam Livingstone and Kagiso Rabada will not be available for the initial games came as a thunderbolt. Unperturbed by all this, head coach Trevor Bayliss had backed the team to come good, especially someone like Bhanuka Rajapaksa.
The Sri Lankan batter had blown hot and cold without making a massive impact in the previous season — 206 runs at a strike rate of 159.68 is much less than what the southpaw was capable of. And in the absence of Livingstone and Bairstow, there was more responsibility on Rajapaksa as Punjab took on Kolkata Knight Riders in their opening game of the season in Mohali on Saturday. How did he respond? Rajapaksa rose to the occasion to smash a 32-ball 50, laying the foundation for the lower-order to take them to 191/5.
Now, Rajapaksa’s ability with the bat or his skill to take the attack to the opponents were never in the question. In fact, it is the innate disdain with which he takes apart bowlers that secured him a place in the league. However, it wasn’t enough then with the Sri Lankan team or with Punjab during their past seasons. This year, however, he was different, at least it seemed so from the outside. When he walked into the bat in the third over, the momentum was already with Punjab and all he had to do was build on it.
As expected, the southpaw took on KKR’s best bowler Sunil Narine, smashing two back-to-back fours and a six. With the ball coming on nicely to the bat, Rajapaksa and Shikhar Dhawan put together a stand of 86 runs from 55 balls. Through the course of his innings, he cut, and pulled and flicked and muscled the ball across the park, smashing a 32-ball fifty. At one point, it looked like he could keep going, especially with nine overs left. However, it was not meant to be as Rajapaksa fell immediately after reaching the milestone in the eleventh over. From thereon, Punjab lower-order, including Sam Curran chipped in, helped them score 82 runs in the last nine overs. “I don’t think it is a typical Mohali wicket,” said the Sri Lankan after the innings. “It had something for spinners and fast bowlers in the back end. (On his six off Narine) Instinct took over. Told Shikhar, I would take him on. It worked. It is a good total because we were aiming for 180-185. (The messaging from Bayliss) So clear. He wants me to bat at the top of the order and bat with a clear mind,” he added.
Having done his job, the southpaw was replaced by Rishi Dhawan as the impact player for the second innings. In reply, KKR managed to score 146/7 in 16 overs before rain interrupted as they fell short by seven runs (DLS method). Arshdeep Singh was the pick of the bowlers for Punjab as the left-arm pacer took three wickets for 19 runs in three overs.
Brief scores: Punjab Kings 191/5 in 20 ovs (Rajapaksa 50, Dhawan 40) bt Kolkata Knight Riders 146/7 in 16 ovs (Russell 35; Singh 3/19) (7 runs DLS).