Lucknow Super Giants got back to winning ways, after the defeat against Gujarat Titans, to beat Punjab Kings in Match 38 of TATA IPL 2023 at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.
Kyle Mayers set the platform for LSG with an attacking knock of 54(24). Marcus Stoinis then took over from Mayers to smash his highest IPL score (72 off 40) as supporting acts from Ayush Badoni (43 off 24) and Nicholas Pooran (45 off 19) propelled LSG to a daunting 257/5. Yash Thakur (4/37) and Naveen-ul-Haq (3/30) then produced the wickets for the away side as a collective bowling effort from the LSG bowlers helped them bowl PBKS out for 201 and win by 56 runs and move to second in the table.
Chasing 258, Punjab Kings were jolted early as they lost captain Shikhar Dhawan (1) in the first over as Stoinis had him caught at deep backward point and then Impact Player Prabhsimran Singh (9 off 13) in the fourth over as he heaved one straight to the deep backward square leg fielder, off Naveen-ul-Haq. Atharva Taide, who came out to bat at No. 3, looked in good touch as he counter-attacked with five fours and a six, including three fours in an over off the Avesh Khan over as PBKS reached 55/2 at the end of six overs.
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Taide and Sikandar Raza got together to rebuild the innings at a fair clip as they brought up the fifty-run stand off just 29 balls. Taide reached his maiden IPL fifty off just 26 balls as PBKS reached 93/2 at the half-way stage. Raza (36 off 22) then took the attack to Bishnoi, hitting him for a four and a six in the 11th over but he departed in the next over, slashing one straight down the throat of the deep point fielder, off Yash Thakur.
Taide (66 off 36) continued his fight with three more fours but he couldn’t carry long as he top-edged his slog sweep and Bishnoi did well to pouch a tricky catch off his own bowling. Livingstone and Curran kept the scoreboard ticking but Bishnoi struck again in his final over, trapping the dangerous Livingstone (23 off 14) LBW off a googly. The batter reviewed it but ball tracking showed all three reds.
The required run rate kept climbing up at a rapid rate and went beyond 20. Jitesh Sharma (24 off 10) put up some valiant fight with but was always going to be an uphill battle to chase down the second-highest total in the IPL. PBKS ended up falling well short of the target as they were bowled out for 201. Yash Thakur impressed with figures of 4-0-37-4 while Naveen-ul-Haq bowled a brilliant spell of 4-0-30-3.
Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan, who was back leading the Punjab Kings side after recovering from an injury, won the toss and elected to bowl. They made four changes to the starting XI as Sikandar Raza, Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada and debutant Gurnoor Brar replaced Matthew Short, Prabhsimran Singh, Harpreet Brar and Harpreet Singh Bhatia. They named Prabhsimrn Singh, Mohit Rathee, Rishi Dhawan, Matthew Short and Harpreet Brar as their substitutes.
Lucknow Super Giants made one change to their starting eleven as Yash Thakur replaced Amit Mishra. K Gowtham, Daniel Sams, Prerak Mankad, Amit Mishra and Mark Wood made it to their substitutes list.
Debutant Gurnoor Brar would have had a dream start to his IPL career as KL Rahul cut the first ball uppishly to backward point but Atharva Taide dropped the catch. He bowled a good first over and gave away just two. Kyle Mayers though went on the attack straightaway in the next over, cracking four fours off Arshdeep Singh. He opened the boundary account as he cracked one through point for a four off Arshdeep Singh’s first ball. He smacked a pull and a couple of powerful shots straight down the ground for fours to make it 17 off the over. Mayers continued his aggressive approach against debutant Gurnoor, smashing him for a six and a couple of fours as Rahul added a four more to make it 16 off the over.
Dhawan then introduced Kagiso Rabada into the attack and the experienced pacer brought the first breakthrough, sending back Rahul (12 off 9). Rahul had hit a six over long off, off the previous ball but Rabada bounced back to have him caught at slip off the next. Mayers continued to attack and brought up the 50 with a powerful six over long on, off Sikandar Raza. He smacked a four and a six more in the over to make it 17 off the over. He brought up his fifty in style, off just 20 balls, lofting one over long on for a six off a Rabada No ball. He top-edged the Free Hit ball over the keeper for four. But Rabada hit back hard off the last ball to remove Mayers who looked to go over mid on but ended up mistiming it into the hands of the mid on fielder. It was a mixed Powerplay for both the teams as LSG reached 74/2 at the end of first six overs.
Badoni and Marcus Stoinis kept the momentum going, hitting two sixes and two fours off Gurnoor to amass 24 runs off the over. The duo then took on Sam Curran, smashing a couple of fours and a six to bring up the 50-run stand off just 26 balls. The runs continued to flow and PBKS had the chance to break the partnership as Stoinis mistimed one to long off, off Chahar but Livingstone touched the ropes while taking the catch. The England all-rounder made amends in the next over, sending back Badoni (43 off 24) to break the 89-run stand. Nicholas Pooran though came out all guns blazing, smacking three fours off his first three balls in the Livingstone over which cost 19 runs and a wicket.
Stoinis brought up his half-century off 31 balls as he and Pooran continued to hit boundaries at will as they added 76 off just 30 balls. Curran finally broke the partnership in the penultimate over, dismissing Stoinis for 72(40). Deepak Hooda then joined the boundary-hitting party to take LSG to 257/5. The away side hit 26 fours and 16 sixes on their way to posting the second-highest total ever in the IPL.
PBKS introduced Prabhsimran Singh as their Impact Player, replacing Gurnoor Brar, as he walked out to open the batting along with Shikhar Dhawan at the start of their batting innings.
