IPL 2025: Rain plays spoilsport after Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya star with bat

The Match 44 of the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League ended in a washout after rain had the play called off, with Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings sharing the spoils at the Eden Gardens on Saturday, April 26.

PBKS got off to a positive start with the bat. They put up 56 runs in the powerplay PBKS went onto score 90 at the halfway mark. Priyansh Arya dazzled with the bat and brought up his first half-century by the completion of the 10th over. A 22-run Sunil Narine over seemed to have injected momentum into the innings. Andre Russell broke the opening stand by dismissing Priyansh for a brisk 69 off 35 balls.

Meanwhile, Prabhsimran Singh seemed well on course for a well-deserved century before falling for 83 off just 49 deliveries. Glenn Maxwell’s struggles in the ongoing season continued. He managed just seven runs off eight balls before being dismissed by Varun Chakravarthy, which was the fifth time the mystery spinner dismissed the Australian in 33 balls in the IPL. 

Shreyas Iyer (25* off 16) and Josh Inglis (11* off 6) were unbeaten at the end of the innings. As far as KKR’s bowlers are concerned, Vaibhav Arora impressed with figures of 2-34. The right-arm quick emerged as the most economical out of the lot as well. Sunil Narine conceded one more run in his four-over spell, but returned wicketless. Russell conceded 27 runs in three overs with a sole wicket to his tally.

The run-chase had begun with Rahmanullah Gurbaz (1 off 3) and Sunil Narine (4 off 3) negotiating the opening over from Marco Jansen. However, brewing Nor'westers (locally known as Kalbaisakhis) forced the ground staff to cover the field in its entirety. After an approximate delay of 85 minutes with no improvement in playing conditions, the officials decided to call it a day.

Ahead of the game, KKR and PBKS were both occupying eighth and fifth positions, respectively. With both sides securing a point each, they shifted one place upwards in the points table; displacing Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians, respectively. 

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During the mid-innings break, Priyansh spoke on the advice provided by head coach, Ricky Ponting, as well as the manner in which he gels with Prabhsimran while batting alongside the Punjab-born batter.

"I think it's a good total as the wicket is on the slower side. Ricky sir advised us (openers) to rotate the strike after the powerplay and take it deep. I enjoy batting with Prabhsimran, he gives good advice. Tells me when to advance down the track. I know I have the ability and working with (Ricky) Ponting sir is helping me, he is always positive and asks us to be aggressive," he shared on air after the first innings.