After Punjab Kings ripped up the record books by mowing down 262 with eight balls to spare, their captain Sam Curran was left wondering if cricket was turning into an entirely different sport.
"Cricket is turning into baseball, isn't it? It was absolutely incredible," Curran mused at the post-match presentation. "Where do we [start]? Absolutely delighted with two points. Games like that are out of the world, but most importantly we've had a tough few weeks as a team [this was Kings' first win in five games] but we've really hung in there. We've taken teams down to the wire and, I think, forget about the scores... I thought we actually deserved victory."
The way batters have raised the ceiling of their hitting, a total of 300 has looked like an increasingly realistic prospect at different points this season. Seven of the top-eight IPL totals have come this season, with PBKS slotting in at six there with their record chase at Eden Gardens. Friday's fixture also produced the most sixes (42) in a T20 match. It surpassed the 38 hits by Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians in Hyderabad last month, and by Royal Challengers Bengaluru and SRH in Bengaluru last week. Curran tried to make sense of the carnage.
"Yeah, I think loads of different things [have added up to this]," Curran said. "I think the way guys train is obviously huge and they can hit balls for a long period of time. I guess it's the confidence, coaches and the way we've been training. Let's be honest - small grounds with a bit of dew and the ball [gets wet] and sometimes you get a wide call. You think you've got a dot ball, you review it and then it's wide. Then an extra ball. So, yeah, not saying it's a batsman's game but it's showing... I'm sure everyone wants to keep seeing sixes. I think stats is definitely going out of the window. It's all about winning those small moments."
Curran was also pleased with how destroyer-in-chief on the night Jonny Bairstow bounced back after a string of low scores, which had resulted in him being dropped from the team.
Bairstow has also had a tough winter with England in India. He is the only England player who has been involved in the 50-over World Cup, the five-Test series earlier this year and the IPL, and has struggled to make an impact across the long stint in India. On Friday, though, Bairstow returned in place of Liam Livingstone and got cracking in the massive chase. He stayed unbeaten on 108 off 48 balls with eight fours and nine sixes.
"Really pleased for Jonny. He's obviously been on tour for a really long time," Curran said. "A couple of games out of the side, he looked like he came back really eager to score runs for the team and showed what an amazing player that he is. So, I'm really pleased for him."
Curran was also impressed with Shashank Singh, who clattered an unbeaten 68 off 28 balls, in an unbroken 84-run stand for the third wicket off 37 balls.
"We gave him that extra bit of responsibility to go in and No. 4 and he's been the find of the season for us," Curran said of Shashank. "Him and Ashutosh [Sharma] have been absolutely incredible and I'm just really pleased. Our group has been through a lot in the last couple of weeks and like I said, take two points and you're going to enjoy those small wins. And it's not a small win. It's a really big win to come to Kolkata and beat that team. Proud of the team, proud of the coaches and proud of everyone."
What was Bairstow's game plan when faced with a chase of 262 on his comeback? "Try to whack it as far as possible," Bairstow said with a smile. "I've never actually been in a game where 260 has been scored. Look, if it's in your area, you gotta' go. If you actually have a couple of quiet overs, which we actually did against Sunil [Narine, who finished with figures of 4-0-24-1]... [That was] because we know how important he is in their side and losing fewer wickets against someone like that is imperative to a chase like that."
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Shreyas Iyer wanted his players to respond strongly when they face Delhi Capitals next up to end a stretch of five home games on the trot.
"To be honest, both the teams played tremendously and I personally feel that this is one of those games where you have to go back to the drawing board and see to it that you introspect on the areas where you went wrong," Shreyas said. "Especially batting first and getting 260 on the board and then not being able to defend it hurts, but at the same time, it's a great lesson for all the players, especially the bowlers. We've got one more game over here and it's important we assess the conditions and come up with greater ideas."