In the second match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, Punjab Kings (PBKS) batter, Bhanuka Rajapaksa played tremendous innings. Batting at number three, he scored a half-century in 30 balls. During his knock, he took Sunil Narine on remand and hit a couple of fours and a six in his very first over. The 31-year-old Sri Lankan batsman, who arrived at the crease after the dismissal of Prabhsimran Singh, started batting fearlessly.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa ended his innings of 50 runs in 32 balls of five fours, a couple of sixes, when he was seen hitting a six over the long-on boundary. By the time Bhanuka Rajapaksa was dismissed in the 11th over, he had done his job. The score was 109 runs at the loss of two wickets. He continues to do well for the Punjab Kings.
Rajapaksa is known for explosive batting, and scored runs in the last season’s nine matches at a blistering strike rate of 159.69. Bhanuka can also do wicketkeeping if required. He is counted among the big hitters for Punjab along with Shah Rukh Khan.
4️⃣4️⃣6️⃣ 💥
When @BhanukaRajapak3 took on Narine and got the most out of the powerplay 🔥🔥
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/UeBnlhdZdr#TATAIPL | #PBKSvKKR pic.twitter.com/gtwEVQYNzf
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 1, 2023
After the year 2022, in terms of the strike rate of foreign batsmen who have scored at least 250 runs, Bhanuka Rajapaksa comes at number four, ahead of Liam Livingstone, Andre Russell, and Glenn Maxwell. In the first match of IPL last year, he scored 43 runs in 22 balls against RCB and this time he hit 50 runs in 32 balls in the first match.
Before Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Prabhsimran Singh had given a good start to the team. He got out after scoring 23 runs in 12 balls. Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed for 40 off 29 balls and missed out on his half-century, clean bowled by Varun Chakravarthy.
