Eden Gardens witnessed history on Friday night as Jonny Bairstow smashed a thundering century to help Punjab Kings own the City of Joy with a world record chase of 262 against Kolkata Knight Riders. Led by the veteran opener, who, up until the start of the match, struggled for form, Punjab Kings batters rained sixes - 24 of them all - as the humongous target of 262 was chased down with eight balls to spare.

On a sultry evening in a parched Kolkata, Sunil Narine (71 off 32 balls) and Phil Salt (75 off 37 balls) smoked the Punjab bowlers, but little did the home team, who were looked certain to edge close to another playoffs qualification and make most of third-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad's loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Thursday, envisage what fate awaited them.

In response to the big total, Punjab got off to a blitzkrieg start, with the openers blasting a 93-run stand in the powerplay where Prabhsimran Singh clobbered a punchy 54 off just 20 balls. After Prabhsimran's departure, Bairstow found an able support in Rilee Rossouw, who struck a 16-ball 26, before being joined by in-form Shashank, who blasted eight sixes, only one less than Bairstow's nine in what turned out to be a walk in the park. Bairstow's unbeaten 108 off 48 balls, and Shashank's 68 not out off 28 balls helped Punjab wrap up the chase in just 18.4 overs to leave KKR completely befuddled.

IPL 2024 updated Points Table after KKR vs PBKS

Following the win, Punjab Kings managed to surpass Mumbai Indians and move to the eighth spot in the points table. It was their first win in five matches in IPL 2024 and third win overall in the tournament. Meanwhile, KKR retained their second position in the table, although their net run rate did take a significant hit as it dropped to +0.972. However, it still stands as the best NRR for any team in the league so far.

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