There was a time when in T20 cricket, a team total in the 160-180 range was considered to be fairly competitive. IPL 2024 seems to be on a mission to change that perception and after Friday night’s run-fest between Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders, it’s fair to say ‘mission accomplished’.
KKR had posted 261/6 in their 20 overs thanks to blistering half-centuries from their opening pair of Sunil Narine and Phil Salt. Nobody would have blamed the two-time champions to feel that they have scored more than enough for a comfortable win.
PBKS turned those happy thoughts to dust with Jonny Bairstow’s blasting a century and Shashank Singh unleashing hell on KKR bowlers at the Eden Gardens. The duo made a mockery of the target as they chased it down with eight deliveries to spare.
523 runs, 42 sixes and 37 fours were scored during the contest and it has forced India offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin sending out an ‘SOS’ for the bowlers.
“‘Save the bowlers’ someone plsss ,” Ashwin posted on X while PBKS batters were on a rampage in Kolkata.
“Save the bowlers” someone plsss #KKRvsPBKS #IPL2024— Ashwin (@ashwinravi99) April 26, 2024
He later pointed out how incredibly astonishing the run-chase was given PBKS were left to score just nine runs from the final two overs.
“It’s run a ball for the last 2 overs of a T 20 game in a chase of 260 +. Let that sink in,” he posted later.
Several other users on X also seemed unhappy with the trend of teams now easily breaching 200-run mark inside 20 overs.
https://twitter.com/utsav__45/status/1783917162329215215
– Extend the boundaries– Allow 5 fielders outside the circle, no matter what the over rate is– Allow 3 bouncers an over– Remove impact subThis is not even cricket. This is some disgusting piece of shittt going on in IPL
Worst IPL season ever and its not even close#IPL2024 pic.twitter.com/muNDgTdGV6
— Ashwin (@Sudharsan_ak) April 26, 2024
Has to be the worst season for me as a viewer. The pitches are hell flat. Mistimed shots are going for sixes and for a fair distance. There's nothing for the bowlers. I don't know if people enjoy this, but this is shambolic. #CricketTwitter #IPL #KKRVPBKS #PBKSvsKKR— Spandan Roy (@talksports45) April 26, 2024
Seven of the top-10 highest team totals in IPL history have been scored in this season alone with SRH proud holders of the top two – 287/3 and 277/3.
24 times in 42 matches, 200-run mark has been breached by the teams so far which is both an indicator of how flat the pitches have been and the ruthlessness with which batters have been dealing with the bowlers.
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