KOLKATA: Jonny Bairstow smashed a “ballistic” unbeaten century as Punjab Kings recorded the highest successful run chase in Twenty20 cricket with an eight-wicket thrashing of Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League on Friday.
The England star clobbered nine sixes and eight fours in his 48-ball 108 to help Punjab overhaul Kolkata’s 261-6 with eight balls to spare in hot and humid conditions at the Eden Gardens.
“We got off to a good start and that was key. They got off to a flier themselves so we knew we had to go ballistic in the powerplay,” said Bairstow, named player of the match.
“When you’ve to chase 200-plus you’ve to take risks in the powerplay. Try and whack it as hard as possible.”
Shashank Singh also impressed with the bat, making 68 not out off 28 balls with eight sixes and two fours.
The previous highest run chase in T20 history was scripted by South Africa who overhauled 258-5 made by the West Indies in 2023.
“Shashank has done it all season, a lovely guy and special player. To have someone like him coming in and do that is unbelievable,” added Bairstow.
The match also saw the batsmen club 42 sixes — the most ever hit in a T20 game.
“Cricket has turned to baseball hasn’t it?” said Punjab captain Sam Curran.
“Guys can hit balls for long periods of time, the coaches, training, the dew, dot balls become wide after reviews and you get the extra ball. Stats are going out of the window.”
He added: “Really pleased for Jonny, he’s been on tour for a long time and was eager to score. Shashank, he was promoted to number four, he’s been our find of the season.”
Kolkata skipper Shreyas Iyer said his team will learn from the defeat.
“Both teams played tremendously. You have to go back to the drawing board and see where you went wrong,” said Iyer.
“Not defending hurts but it’s a great lesson for the players.”
Punjab registered only their third win from nine games and moved to eighth spot in the 10-team competition.
Kolkata, with five wins from eight games, remain in second place.
“From the dugout, I was watching the wicket. I felt the ball was coming on with good bounce,’ said Shashank.
“This match, the way Jonny batted was a huge positive. It was a great learning for me, we still have five more matches to go.”
Opening the Punjab innings, Bairstow put on 93 runs with impact sub Prabhsimran Singh (54) and another 85 runs with South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw (26).
Prabhsimran was run out by a direct throw from Sunil Narine who also chipped in with the wicket of Rossouw in the 13th over.
Despite the two dismissals, Shashank continued to unleash big shots, making sure Punjab did not lose their nerve while chasing the big total.
Earlier, Kolkata got off to a blistering start with Phil Salt and Narine sharing 138 runs off just 69 balls for the first wicket after being put in to bat.
Narine, dropped on 16, hammered four sixes and nine fours in his 32-ball 71 before holing out to Bairstow off leg spinner Rahul Chahar.
England’s Curran dismissed Salt who hit a 37-ball 75 studded with six sixes and six fours after being dropped twice by sloppy Punjab fielders.
Venkatesh Iyer chipped in with a cameo 39-run knock as Kolkata posted the highest IPL total ever at the Eden Gardens.
‘Ballistic’ Bairstow stars as Punjab pull off record T20 chase in IPL win over Kolkata Knight Riders
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‘Ballistic’ Bairstow stars as Punjab pull off record T20 chase in IPL win over Kolkata Knight Riders
- Previous highest run chase in T20 history was scripted by South Africa who overhauled 258-5 made by the West Indies in 2023
- Shashank Singh also impressed with the bat, making 68 not out off 28 balls with eight sixes and two fours
Turkiye orders arrest of 29 footballers in betting scandal
- Among the players, 27 are suspected of having bet on matches involving their own teams, prosecutors said
- One was Metehan Baltaci, who plays for reigning Turkish champions Galatasaray
ISTANBUL: Istanbul prosecutors on Friday ordered the arrest of 46 people, among them 29 football players, as part of a sprawling investigation into illegal betting on Turkish matches.
Among the players, 27 are suspected of having bet on matches involving their own teams, the public prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
One was Metehan Baltaci, who plays for reigning Turkish champions Galatasaray, it said. Earlier this month, he had been suspended for nine months over the betting scandal.
The investigation has rocked Turkish football, with six referees placed in pre-trial detention on November 10, along with the president of Eyupspor, a club in Turkiye’s top Super Lig division.
Prosecutors did not identify the other 26 players suspected of bets involving their own teams, but said Mert Hakan Yandas, who plays for Fenerbahce, another major Istanbul club, had placed bets through someone else’s account.
The prosecutor’s office said police had so far detained 35 of the 46 people named in the arrest order. Five were known to be currently abroad, it said.
- Zero goal attempts -
Two club presidents were among those targeted by the order for “attempting to influence the outcome” of a match between their two third-division teams in the 2023-2024 season, the statement said.
The match had caught the attention of investigators because neither side had even made one attempt to score a goal, Turkish media reported, with several newspapers saying that was where the entire investigation began.
Six other suspects, one of them a player, are accused of conspiring to influence the result of a second-division clash between Umraniyespor and Giresunspor in December 2023.
A first-division referee, the ex-president of second-division side Adana Demirspor, and a well-known football commentator and his wife were also targeted for “suspect financial transactions” in their bank accounts.
So far, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) — which has said it wants to “clean up” the beautiful game in Turkiye — has suspended more than 1,000 players, 25 of them from the Super Lig, with the sanctions ranging from 45 days to 12 months.
Only one was a foreign national — Konyaspor’s Senegalese winger Alassane Ndao, who was suspended for 12 months.
In October, the TFF suspended nearly 150 referees for betting on matches, all of whom have since been dismissed.
