The cricket world was in shock as Punjab Kings set a new world record on Friday. Led by Jonny Bairstow‘s incredible hundred, Punjab Kings set a new world record for the highest run chase in the history of T20 cricket as they overhauled the 262-run target set by Kolkata Knight Riders with eight wickets to spare in the IPL on Friday. PBKS bettered South Africa’s 259/4 against West Indies in March last year. In the IPL, Rajasthan Royals held the previous record for chasing down 224 against KKR at Eden Gardens recently, equalling the record they had set against then Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in 2020 in Sharjah.
Highest targets successfully chased in Men’s T20 cricket
262 – Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Kolkata, IPL 2024
259 – South Africa vs West Indies, Centurion, 2023
253 – Middlesex vs Surrey, The Oval, T20 Blast 2023
244 – Australia vs New Zealand, Auckland, 2018
243 – Bulgaria vs Serbia, Sofia, 2022
243 – Multan Sultans vs Peshawar Zalmi, Rawalpindi, PSL 2023
:Obscene batting,” commented Kevin Pietersen,
Obscene batting
— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) April 26, 2024
Talking about the match, sent into bat, Kolkata Knight Riders scored 261/6 but PBKS completed the chase with eight balls to spare.
KKR rode on a 138-run partnership between openers Phil Salt (75 off 37 balls) and Sunil Narine (71 off 32 balls).
The batters that followed the openers then consolidated the home team’s position and took them to an imposing total.
In reply, PBKS too were off to a great start and scored 93 runs for the loss of Prabhsimran Singh‘s wicket in the powerplay.
Prabhsimran blazed away to a 20-ball 54 before getting run out. Bairstow continued his brutal onslaught to help PBKS pull off a stunning win. Bairstow (108 off 48 balls) was well-supported by the in-from Shashank Singh who smashed 68 in only 28 balls.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders: 261/6 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 75, Sunil Narine 71).
Punjab Kings: 262/2 in 18.4 overs (Jonny Bairstow 108, Prabhsimran Singh 54, Shashank Singh 68).
With PTI inputs