Live Report - IPL 2023: Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Mohali

An unsatisfactory finish in many ways, but we have a deserving winning team at the end of it, I think. Punjab just had a little more quality than KKR with bat and ball, and Arshdeep Singh's pinpoint short deliveries were perhaps the biggest gamechanger on the day.

An encouraging start to Punjab's season, and they'll be even better when they have Liam Livingstone and Kagiso Rabada available. KKR's top order looks a little lightweight at this point, and they'll need to find solutions soon if they are to challenge for the playoffs spots.

The players go off the field with KKR 146 for 7 in 16 overs. The last ball contested so far was a short one from Curran that Sunil Narine pulled for six.

Even with that pulled six, KKR are behind the DLS par score, which was 153 for 7. If there's no more play, which looks a distinct possibility, Punjab Kings will win this game by seven runs.

KKR would have still been behind - though narrowly - had they been six down. The par score in that case would have been 148 for 6.

Three wickets today, and all three with the short ball. This one climbs at Venkatesh Iyer and cramps him a little as he looks to ride the bounce and uppercut, but he can only hit it straight into the hands of backward point. KKR are 138 for 7. They now need 54 off 27 balls - two a ball, exactly - as Sunil Narine walks in.

Sam Curran gets Russell and puts Punjab firmly in front. He took some punishment along the way, though, with Russell launching a full-toss miles beyond the long-on boundary and then ramping a slower bouncer over the gap between backward point and short third for four. Next ball, however, he can't quite put enough muscle into a pull to make up for the lack of pace of Curran's slower ball, and he picks out the fielder at deep midwicket.

Russell is out for 35 off 19, and KKR are 130 for 6.

Okay, wait, make that 136 for 6. Shardul Thakur walks in at No. 8, and pulls the first ball he faces for an effortless six over square leg. If it's anyone other than Lord Shardul Thakur, you'd call it an unbelievable bit of timing.

An eventful 14th over from Nathan Ellis, who could have had Andre Russell out off the third legal ball, only for Prabhsimran Singh, running back from short fine leg, to put down a difficult chance off a top-edged pull. There were two no-balls as well, with Venkatesh Iyer launching the second of them for a clean, straight six.

Oh, and a light drizzle has begun too.

As for the match situation, Russell has begun well, getting to 24 off 15, and Venkatesh has found a bit of momentum after going at just around a run a ball for his first 20-odd balls.

KKR need 74 off the last six overs. Russell has done this sort of thing before, but you'd think Punjab remain well on top for the moment.

Rahul Chahar comes on to bowl the 11th over, and strikes first ball. Dangles a wrong'un across Rinku Singh, who tries to drag a slog-sweep against the angle and turn, and only succeeds in picking out deep midwicket. KKR are 80 for 5, and Andre Russell has walked to the crease.

R Chahar vs Russell in T20s: 20 balls, 25 runs, no dismissals.

Nitish Rana slashes one straight to backward point, and KKR are 75 for 4.

Interesting that it's just the 10th over, and Raza is already into his third. He's an offspinner by definition, though he bowls a lot more seam-up and knuckleball variations these days, and Punjab have preferred to bowl him rather than their legspinner Rahul Chahar or their left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar, who are yet to bowl so far.

Rinku Singh comes in now, and KKR have another left-left pair at the crease. How will Punjab shuffle their bowlers?

Rishi Dhawan comes on to bowl the ninth over, and concedes three boundaries in six balls. One is a thick edge that flies to deep third, but there are also two shortish balls that Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer pummel over and to the on-side boundary respectively. Rishi doesn't have a lot of pace, so he doesn't have much of a margin for error on this pitch.

KKR need 117 from 66 balls at the end of that over.

Nathan Ellis strikes, bowling a top-of-off-stump ball that Rahmanullah Gurbaz charges out to and misses, after making room for an off-side slap. Nitish Rana walks out with KKR needing 163 off 94 balls.

Arshdeep's short ball strikes again. Anukul played a glorious shot second ball, shovelling a full-one over mid-on for a one-bounce four, and Arshdeep pulled his length back soon after, sending down back-to-back short balls. Anukul ducked the first one, and tried to take on the second, but it rushed him and cramped him, and he ended up offering a simple catch to midwicket.

In walks KKR's Impact Player, Venkatesh Iyer. He replaces Varun Chakravarthy.

Arshdeep has a superb, slightly underrated short ball, and he bowls a good one to get a wicket with his first ball of the match. Banged in, up at Mandeep Singh's shoulder, and he isn't able to control the pull. Caught at deep midwicket, and KKR are 13 for 1.

Anukul Roy, who didn't get to bowl his left-arm spin today, is in at No. 3.

The seam-bowling allrounder comes in for Bhanuka Rajapaksa.

The floodlights at the stadium are taking a long time to take effect, leading to a protracted delay before the start of the second innings.

Terrific last over for the neutrals. Tim Southee errs twice with his slower ball, offering too much width to Shahrukh and sending down a slot ball to Curran, and travels both times, but he's much harder to get away when he gets it right. Fifteen off that final over, and Punjab finish on 191 for 5.

KKR end up using only five of their bowlers, with Anukul Roy and Andre Russell going unused. No Impact Player used just yet, but we spotted Rishi Dhawan padded up in the dugout during the end overs, so it's possible he'll come in for one of the batters and bowl a few overs later on.

"It's not a typical Mohali track," Bhanuka Rajapaksa says. "There was a little bit of help for both the fast bowlers and the spinners towards the end. It wasn't the easiest to get set in the beginning, but we're quite happy with the total we've got on the board."

KKR have done well to keep themselves in the game after Punjab were threatening to run away to 200 or more. Punjab debutants Sikandar Raza and Sam Curran put on 25 off 20 for the fifth wicket, and while they hit an eye-catching six each during that stand, the bowlers kept them fairly quiet in between.

Now Sunil Narine, brought back to bowl the 18th after going for 36 in his first three, bowls a superb final over: four runs plus the wicket of Raza, who miscues an attempted big hit to extra-cover.

Shahrukh Khan is the new batter, and KKR's bowlers might want to look at these numbers from the 2022 seeason. Against the fuller lengths (full-toss, yorker, full, good length), Shakrukh hit 66 runs off 33 balls, while being dismissed three times. Against the shorter lengths (short of good, short), he scored just 17 off 27 while being dismissed three times.

One of those typically skiddy Varun Chakravarthy wrong'uns, and Dhawan, playing on the back foot, is bowled playing across and all around the ball. He goes for 40 off 29 balls, and on this pitch, you wonder if he could have taken a few more chances than he did. He was ruthless when he was offered width, but it didn't feel like he made a big effort otherwise to manufacture boundaries with his footwork or intent.

Varun has excellent figures after his first three overs: 1 for 15. It feels like he's bowled a little bit quicker and has been at the stumps a little bit more relentlessly than Sunil Narine today.

Hardik Pandya suggested yesterday that the Impact Player rule and the ability for teams to name their team after the toss can leave some bowlers underutilised. It's happening with KKR today, though you'd say it's partly because of the match situation: the left-handed Shikhar Dhawan has been at the creasee right through this innings, and Bhanuka Rajapaksa has batted through most of it as well, so they've not used their left-arm spinner Anukul Roy inside the first 14 overs.

Andre Russell hasn't bowled yet either, but you imagine he'll bowl a couple at the death. Umesh Yadav is already done with his full quota.

In the meanwhile, Jitesh Sharma has come in and played a superb cameo, hitting two monster sixes in an 11-ball 12 before slicing Southee for a catch at short third. Punjab are 142 for 3 after 14 overs.

Rajapaksa brings up his half-century in the 11th over, and holes out to long-on two balls later. Umesh Yadav is the wicket-taker. He timed the ball beautifully from the time he walked in, and of his five fours and two sixes, the one you'll remember the longest was a SanathJayasuriyaesque whip off his hips with his front leg in the air, which flew effortlessly over the fine leg boundary, off Shardul Thakur's bowling.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Shikhar Dhawan are chugging along nicely for Punjab, who are 100 for 1 at the halfway stage, but this seems to be the kind of pitch where the team batting first can't really be sure what a good total is. The ball is coming nicely onto the bat, the bounce is true, and there's no real grip and turn.

KKR coach Chandrakant Pandit, interviewed on the sidelines, suggests 180-200 will be chaseable here. Punjab are doing well right now, but they'll want to make sure they don't leave runs out in the middle.

This seems to be a proper flat deck in Mohali, and Bhanuka Rajapaksa demonstrates this by stepping out and hitting Sunil Narine sweetly through the line three times in a 14-run fifth over. Punjab Kings reach their 50 at the end of that over, for the loss of just one wicket.

Prabhsimran Singh faced every ball of the first two overs, and charged out of the blocks, smacking two fours and two sixes before strangling Tim Southee down the leg side to depart for 23 off 12 balls. He looked really good when he was in there, particularly in the second over when he charged at Southee and hit him for a flat-bat four through mid-off and a swatted six over wide long-on.

There's been a bit of rain about in Mohali, and Nitish Rana suggests there could be some early moisture that he hopes KKR's bowlers can exploit.

And KKR have a lot of bowlers in their starting XI. They have Shardul Thakur and Sunil Narine slotted at Nos. 6 and 7, but obviously that will change when they chase, with one of their bowlers likely to give way to a batter. Tim Southee, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Rahmanullah Gurbaz are KKR's overseas players.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Sam Curran, Nathan Ellis and Sikandar Raza, meanwhile, are Punjab's overseas quartet. An IPL debut for Raza, who comes into the tournament on the back of an incredible few months, with bat and ball, for Zimbabwe. How will his new, Narine-esque bowling style go against Narine's team?

Punjab Kings 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Prabhsimran Singh, 3 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 4 Sikandar Raza, 5 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 6 Shahrukh Khan, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Nathan Ellis, 9 Harpreet Brar, 10 Rahul Chahar, 11 Arshdeep Singh.

Kolkata Knight Riders 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Mandeep Singh, 3 Nitish Rana (capt), 4 Rinku Singh, 5 Andre Russell, 6 Shardul Thakur, 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Tim Southee, 9 Anukul Roy, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Varun Chakravarthy.