IPL 2023: Great effort from Arshdeep to take the game to last ball, says PBKS skipper Dhawan after narrow loss vs KKR

Arshdeep Singh was tasked to defend 6 runs in the final over against KKR.

By Salman Anjum - 09 May, 2023

Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Shikhar Dhawan showered rich praise on Arshdeep Singh for taking his team’s IPL 2023 clash to the last ball against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens on Monday (May 8).

The left-arm pacer was tasked to defend 6 runs in the final over and he managed to take the game to the last ball, where Rinku Singh hit a boundary to seal the deal for KKR with five wickets in hand.

"Feels bad, of course not feeling great. Not an easy track to bat on, in the end they played well. It was a great effort from Arshdeep, the way he has bounced back from the last game. All credit to him that he took the game to the last ball," Dhawan said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

The Punjab captain also lamented not having a "good off-spinner" in their ranks to stop the leakage of runs against left-handers.

"I feel we don’t have a good off-spinner, that is where we are leaking a bit of runs when left-handers come in. This wicket was offering turn as well, that is where we took the hit," he added.

Coming to the match, PBKS rode on skipper Shikhar Dhawan’s half-century (57 off 47 balls) to post 179/7 on the board after opting to bat first. Shahrukh Khan (21* off 8), Harpreet Brar (17* off 9), and Rishi Dhawan (19 off 11) also made handy contributions with the bat.

The spin duo of Varun Chakaravarthy (3-26) and Suyash Sharma (1-26) starred with the ball for KKR, sharing four scalps between them by conceding 26 runs each in their four-over spell.

In reply, Kolkata chased down the target on the last delivery of the match. Captain Nitish Rana top scored with 38-ball 51 while Andre Russell returned with a dazzling knock of 23-ball 42.

Although Russell got out in the penultimate ball of the run-chase, the hosts went past the finish line thanks to yet another match-winning knock from Rinku Singh (21* off 10).

By Salman Anjum - 09 May, 2023

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