Punjab Kings (PBKS) started their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 campaign on a positive note as Shikhar Dhawan's men defeated two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by seven runs (DLS method) on April 1 (Saturday) at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali. PBKS' premier pacer Arshdeep Singh played a pivotal role in the team's victory as he bagged three important wickets that choked KKR's run chase.
The left-arm seamer struck gold on just the first ball of his spell and sent veteran batter Mandeep Singh packing to the pavilion by surprising him with a bouncer. On the last ball of his first over, the 24-year-old struck once again by surprising Anukul Roy with a deceptive bouncer.
After picking up Anukul's wicket, Arshdeep gave the KKR batter a 'death stare' that caught the attention of millions of people watching the game. The image was PBKS pacer's reaction after dismissing Anukul went viral on social media. After the game, Arshdeep explained the reason behind giving Anukul a stare.
"He (Anukul Roy) was my batch mate in under-19 cricket. He started to hit me straightaway so I wanted to show aggression. He was also showing aggression so my aggression also came out a bit. Players are expecting that I will bowl yorkers so I tried to surprise them a bit by bowling bouncers," the left-arm seamer told the host broadcaster after the match.
In his next spell, Arshdeep dismissed dangerous Venkatesh Iyer which was instrumental in PBKS surging ahead in the tie.
Earlier, PBKS posted a total of 191/5 in 20 overs. It was a combined effort from Punajb's batting line-up with Bhanuka Rajapaksa leading the charge with a 32-ball 50-run knock. Captain Dhawan added 40 runs off 29 balls while wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma chipped in with a handy cameo of 21 runs off 11 balls, The most expensive player in IPL history Sam Curran scored 26 runs off 17 balls. Opener Prabhsimran Singh gave the team a good start by playing a cameo of 23 runs off 12 balls.Â
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