Arya and Prabhsimran sparkle before rain dashes PBKS' hopes

Match abandoned Punjab Kings 201 for 4 (Prabhsimran 83, Arya 69, Arora 2-34) vs Kolkata Knight Riders 7 for 0 in 1 over

Punjab Kings (PBKS) had to settle for just one point despite scoring 201 on a slow pitch, as late-evening thundershowers washed out the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) chase in Kolkata. PBKS would be disappointed for they had done the hard work on a pitch whose consensus reading was "very, very slow". The one point moved PBKS to No. 4 on the IPL 2025 points table while the lagging KKR rose to No. 7 with seven points from nine matches.

Outside of the frustration of not getting the win, PBKS must be pleased with their openers, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh, whose half-centuries took them to the daunting total. Especially how they scored the runs. They were almost obsessed with not over-hitting, holding their shape, and relying more on their timing, adding 120 for the first wicket, PBKS' only century stand this IPL. Arya scored 69 off 35, Prabhsimran 83 off 49, and even though the last six overs produced only 42, PBKS were confident they had scored an above-par total.

On the slow track with grip available for those bowling into the pitch, PBKS took 74 off the eight overs of spin between Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine. Even Harshit Rana, KKR's slower-ball specialist, was allowed to bowl only two overs for 27 runs.

Arya, in particular, was clever in his targeting of the bowlers. He took 50 off 20 balls of pace, and just 19 off 15 balls of spin. Prabhsimran took the spinners on, taking 41 off 22 balls bowled by them. Both of them were measured in the first couple of overs, getting used to the pace in the pitch, before targeting the pace bowlers. Arya preferred timing - his first four fours were driven between mid-off and cover - and Prabshimran struggled early, getting to only 34 off 32 at one point.

With an audacious switch-hit six off Narine, Prabhsimran turned his innings around, in the process consigning Narine to a 22-run over. His worst has been 23 in all T20 cricket. Prabhsimran scored 49 off the last 17 balls he faced; Shreyas Iyer contributed only five in a 40-run stand with him.

That the death overs were not easy to hit only encouraged PBKS. Andre Russell got reverse-swing, Narine and Varun conceded just 13 in their final overs, and Vaibhav Arora drew purchase when he bowled slower balls. PBKS were confident there wouldn't be much dew either, but we never could find out.