IPL 2024: Punjab Kings lose their star allrounder after historic win over KKR

Punjab Kings, on Friday (April 26), created history against Kolkata Knight Riders by pulling off a record chase to keep their slim playoff chances alive in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024).

PBKS ended their four-match losing streak in style by chasing down a world record 262 against KKR at the Eden Gardens. Asked to bat first, KKR posted a 250-plus total for the second this season. Their star openers - Phil Salt and Sunil Narine starred with the bat again, scoring 75 and 71 runs respectively before the middle-order batters took the hosts to a 260-plus total at the Eden Gardens.

PBKS had their back against the wall after KKR finished their innings. However, the visitors responded in style with the bat and chased down the mammoth total in just 18.4 overs by losing only two wickets. Jonny Bairstow starred with the bat by scoring an unbeaten century while Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh scored whirlwind fifties.

Bairstow remained unbeaten on 108 off 48 balls while Prabhsimran smashed an 18-ball fifty inside the powerplay to give his team a solid start. Shashank Singh, on the other hand, scored 68 runs off just 28 balls with the help of two fours and eight sixes.

PBKS lose star player:

Hours after the historic win over KKR, PBKS lost the services of their star allrounder Sikandar Raza. On Saturday morning, the Zimbabwe star took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce his departure from the IPL to link up with his national team for the upcoming series against Bangladesh. The five-match T20I series is scheduled to be played from May 3 to 12.

"Thank you India, @IPL and @PunjabKingsIPL for having me , loved every minute of it. Time for national duty now," wrote Sikandar Raza.

Thank you India 🇮🇳, @IPL and @PunjabKingsIPL for having me , loved every minute of it

Time for national 🇿🇼 duty now #InshaAllah we will meet again soon #visitzimbabwe #visitindia #Alhamdulillah pic.twitter.com/YVkBOtp6bH

— Sikandar Raza (@SRazaB24) April 27, 2024

One of the best limited-overs allrounder in the world, Sikandar Raza could not make much of an impact in the ongoing IPL. He did not get enough opportunities to showcase his talent as he played only two games and scored 43 runs. In the last edition of the IPL, he had played seven games and had scored 139 runs with the help of one half-century. Sikandar Raza had also picked up three wickets.