Heavy rains played spoilsport as the Indian Premier League match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata was abandoned on Saturday.
Opting to bat, PBKS benefitted from openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh’s brilliant half-centuries, resulting in a 72-ball 120-run partnership, to post a challenging 201 for four.
KKR was seven for no loss after the first over when strong dusty winds followed by thunderstorm and heavy rains stopped play around 9:35 pm.
Massive covers blew away even as groundstaff bravely stood on the covers to prevent them from flying away.As action could not begin due to continuous rain, the match was called off around 11 pm with both teams getting one point apiece from the first washout of the season.
Earlier, it was smooth sailing for PBKS openers in the PowerPlay. Maintaining his composure, Priyansh (69, 35b, 8×4, 4×6), who began with a four off the first ball, read the deliveries early and found the gaps with ease.
Prabhsimran (83, 49b, 6×4, 6×6) joined the entertainment with smart shot selection and improvisation.
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The KKR spinners brought the economy down before Priyansh, who had some lucky escapes, hammered Harshit Rana for two fours and a six and reached his second fifty-plus score.
The audacious duo broke the shackles by plundering 22 runs off Sunil Narine in the 11th over. Priyansh stepped out to hit over long-on and Prabhsimran displayed his switch-hit and flat-batted straight shot to pick up two more sixes.
Andre Russell provided KKR relief again by having Priyansh caught at deep midwicket.
Prabhsimran, who offered a hard chance, continued to flex his muscles to play gorgeous shots on both sides and got his second fifty of the season. When he departed, caught at long-off off Vaibhav Arora, PBKS was well placed to score a massive total.
But KKR bowlers pulled things back, allowing the tourists to gather 34 runs for two wickets in the last four overs.
Vaibhav and Russell bowled intelligently to keep things tight. Captaining PBKS against his former side, Shreyas Iyer, let off on 12, managed to take his team past 200.
