Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 31 (ANI): Debutant Mayank Yadav’s magnificent four over spell restricted the Punjab Kings (PBKS) to 178/5 and helped his side Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to a victory by 21 runs at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
In reply to LSG’s 199 runs, PBKS openers Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Naistow started off the chase with a possitive and aggressive approach. Both batters put on a 50-run partnership in the 5.1 overs Dhawan slammed a boundary on the bowling of left-arm seamer Mohsin Khan.
Dhawan completed his fifty as he slammed a six on the bowling of right-arm leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi on the fourth ball of the eighth over.
Both the openers completed their 100-run partnership as Dhawan pushed the ball for the double on the second ball of the 11th over bowled by Bishnoi.
Mayank took his maiden wicket of his IPL career as he dismissed Bairstow on the fourth ball of the 12th over. The right-hand batter was sent back to the pavilion after scoring 42 runs off just 29 balls, which were laced with three fours and three sixes each in the innings. He built an outstanding partnership of 102 runs with Dhawan.
In the same over in which he dismissed Bairstow, the 21-year-old speedster bowled a fiery delivery to the PBKS skipper, which was 155.08 kms/hr.
Soon after the first wicket, the momentum shifted towards the LSG side. The young Indian bowler grabbed the wickets of Prabhsimran Singh and wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma in the 14th and 16th over respectively.
Young right arm pacer finished his first spell of IPL with a figures of 4-0-27-3.
The next two wickets was taken by left-arm seamer Mohsin Khan. First he dismissed the set batter Dhawan at the score of 141 in the 17th over after playing a marvellous knock of 70 runs from 50 balls which was laced with seven boundaries and three sixes.
After this, the 25-year-old dismissed the star all-rounder of the team, Sam Curran who was not able to open his account.
Mohsin finished his spell against PBKS with the figures of 4-0-34-2.
Earlier in the first innings, after winning the toss, Lucknow decided to bat first. Following which, Quinton de Kock (54 runs from 38 balls) and KL Rahul (15 runs from 9 balls) opened for the hosts and could only place a partnership of 35 runs.
The opening partnership was broken after Arshdeep Singh made the first breakthrough of the game in the 4th over as he dismissed Rahul.
After losing the first wicket, Devdutt Padikkal (9 runs from 6 balls) tried to take control of the match but failed to make a mark in the game but he fell short in front of Sam Curran in the 6th over.
Marcus Stoinis (19 runs from 12 balls) came on the crease to replace Padikkal. He amassed the fans by smashing 2 sixes. However, Rahul Chahar bagged Stoinis’ wicket in the 9th over.
Soon after losing three wickets, LSG’s stand-in skipper, Nicholas Pooran (42 runs from 21 balls), made a solid partnership and helped the hosts add a few runs on the board. The partnership was broken after Arshdeep picked up his second wicket of the match after dismissing De Kock in the 14th over.
Pooran’s knock had to come to an end as Kagiso Rabada removed him in the 16th over.
Sam Curran was on fire in the 19th over as he removed Ayush Badoni (8 runs from 10 balls) and Ravi Bishnoi (0 runs from 1 ball) in two consecutive balls. The Englishman’s over helped Punjab keep track of Lucknow’s run rate.
However, Krunal Pandya (43 runs from 22 balls) played the role of a finisher as he took Lucknow to a total of 199/8 after the end of the 20 overs. Pandya slammed 4 fours and 2 sixes at a strike rate of 195.45.
The last wicket of the inning came in the 20th over when Mohsin Khan (2 runs from 1 ball) was dismissed from a runout.
On the other hand, Curran led the Punjab bowling attack as he picked up three wickets in his four-over spell. Arshdeep Singh bagged two wickets after delivering three overs. Kagiso Rabada and Rahul Chahar could manage to take just one wicket in their respective spells.
Brief Score: Punjab Kings 178/5 in 20 overs () vs Lucknow Super Giants 199/8 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 54, Krunal Pandya 43*, Nicholas Pooran 42; Sam Curran 3/28). (ANI)
