Mumbai, Apr 1 (IANS): Umesh Yadav claimed a wicket in the first over for the third successive match on his way to a four-fer as Kolkata Knight Riders bowled out Punjab Kings for 137 in 18.2 overs in an IPL 2022 match at the Wankhede Stadium here on Friday.
Umesh Yadav, who last played a T20I match for India in February 2019, served notice of his abilities ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year by claiming 4/23 to rattle Punjab Kings.
Having claimed a wicket in his first over in the matches against Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore, Yadav continued his success by sending back Punjab skipper Mayank Agarwal on the last ball of his first over. This was his 50th wicket in the powerplay in the IPL.
Punjab never recovered from the early blow and though Bhanuka Rajapaksa blasted a 9-ball 31 and Kagiso Rabada made a late charge with a 16-ball 25, they could only manage 137 which did not give their bowlers a lot to bowl at.
Asked to bat first, PBKS got off to a poor start losing skipper Mayank Agarwal on the last ball of the first over. Umesh Yadav made one nip back after pitching on the off stump and Agarwal was caught in front, giving KKR their first wicket with only two runs on the board.
Shikhar Dhawan played Tim Southee's first over cautiously but Bhanuka Rajapaksa went on a rampage, hitting Southee for a four off the last ball of his first over and giving the same treatment to Umesh Yadav in the next over. The Sri Lankan batter launched into Shivam Mavi, who was brought in place of Sheldon Jackson, hitting him for a four and followed by three sixes of successive balls -- the first over mid-on, the next over long-on and the third a slog-sweep over square leg boundary.
But Mavi had the last laugh as he forced Rajapaksa to spoon a simple catch with a delivery pitched on the back of the length that cramped the batter for space. Southee completed a simple clash at mid-off to send the batter back -- Rajpaksa's entertaining innings lasting only 9-balls but fetching PBKS 31 runs. Mavi's first over cost him 22 runs for the wicket of Rajapaksa.
Shikhar Dhawan did not last long and was the next PBKS batter to get out, offering a thick edge to keeper Sam Billings off Tim Southee.
The Punjab Kings' middle-order collapsed as the likes of Liam Livingstone, Raj Bawa and Shah Rukh Khan departed without contributing much to the score and 92/6 in the 13th over.
Umesh Yadav added to their woes with a double strike in the 15th over -- sending back Harpreet Brar (14) and Rahul Chahar (0) off the first and fourth ball of the over.
South African pacer Kagiso Rabada, making his debut, landed a few lusty blows in making 25 off 16 deliveries but once his charmed life came to an end when Southee brilliantly caught a miscued skier.
PBKS thus ended their innings with Arshdeep Singh getting run out in the 19th over as they were bowled out for 137.
Brief scores: Punjab Kings 137 all out in 18.2 overs (Bhanuka Rajapaksa 31, Kagiso Rabada 25; Umesh Yadav 4/23, Tim Southee 2/26) against Kolkata Knight Riders.