Kolkata, April 6 Kolkata Knight Riders secured their first point of the season after the IPL match against Punjab Kings was abandoned due to a combination of heavy rain and a waterlogged outfield, making it impossible to resume play on Monday.
When the initial spell of rain fell at Eden Gardens, KKR were struggling at 25 for 2 after 3.4 overs. Despite the deadline being extended to 11:14 pm, the proceedings never restarted.
PBKS also received a point and temporarily moved to the top of the table with five points from three games. Kolkata now has one point from three matches, ahead of Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings, who are yet to open their account.
Incidentally, the match between KKR and PBKS here during IPL 2025 was also called off due to rain.
KKR has a third home match in a row, facing Lucknow Super Giants on Thursday, but rain is also predicted on that day.
The match began with heavy rain and strong winds from 9 pm, gradually turning into a thunderstorm.
The wind was so strong that the unique 'hanging' Eden press box, supported by iron beams, shook under the gale force, resembling an 'earthquake'.
The drizzle finally subsided around 10:30 pm, prompting the ground staff to take action and remove the covers.
The pitch and outfield appeared largely intact with no significant seepage, although a few puddles had formed near the boundary lines due to water runoff from the covers after they were removed.
An inspection was conducted by on-field umpires Abhijeet Bengeri and J Madanagopal.
The president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, Sourav Ganguly, also checked the firmness of the ground, and after a lengthy discussion with KKR captain Rahane and his Punjab counterpart Shreyas Iyer, the match was called off at 11 pm.
On a day when KKR were without both their frontline spinners – Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy – their decision to bat first seemed to backfire spectacularly.
Punjab Kings' Australian pacer Xavier Bartlett struck twice in three balls in a fiery second over, removing their star overseas batters – Finn Allen (6) and Cameron Green (4).
Pacer Arshdeep Singh set the tone in the opening over. Allen looked tentative against the left-armer, edging and missing more than once, before Bartlett finished the job in the next over with a fine display of swing and seam.
Allen had a couple of close shaves – being beaten on the edge and nearly undone by a yorker that he somehow dug out for four – but his luck soon ran out.
Attempting an inside-out drive to a length ball outside off, he could only manage a faint nick.
Promoted to No. 3 ahead of Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Green, the highest-paid overseas player at Rs 25.20 crore, continued his miserable outing, having earlier scored 18 (against Mumbai Indians) and 2 (Sunrisers Hyderabad).
Bartlett struck again with a similar back-of-a-length delivery, swinging away and inducing another loose poke.
With Bartlett breathing fire and KKR firmly on the back foot, Rahane and Raghuvanshi began to rebuild before the steady drizzle halted the proceedings at 7:45 pm.
With Eden Gardens equipped with full ground covers, the ground staff swiftly covered the entire field.
There was a brief respite when the covers began to come off, but rain returned, leaving the spectators frustrated as many started leaving.
All this unfolded in front of Bollywood superstar and KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan, who made his first appearance of the season at the venue, only to witness a rain-hit evening.
The match also witnessed a relatively sparse turnout, with 29,358 spectators in attendance.