The trend of the home team losing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) continued as Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) lost their match against Punjab Kings in a last-over thriller at Ekana Stadium in Uttar Pradesh’s capital city, Lucknow. This marks the fourth consecutive loss for the home team in this season’s IPL.
Punjab Kings, led by Sam Curran as their regular captain Shikhar Dhawan was sitting out due to injury, won the toss and elected to field first. Curran, who was captaining a team for the first time in any format, did a fantastic job with the ball, taking 3 wickets for 31 runs.
Earlier when asked to bat, Mayers and Rahul gave LSG a quick start, with the powerful left-handed West Indian initially taking the initiative.
While Mayers dealt maximums, Rahul dealt boundaries.
In the powerplay, Mayers blasted Mathew Short over a deep backward square leg, followed it up with a backward punch for another six over covers off Sam Curran, and then threw Rabada into the bleachers as LSG sped to 40 for no loss.
Despite a good start, LSG’s batsmen failed to add significant runs to the total, with KL Rahul, the LSG skipper, being the highest scorer with 74 runs, and Kyle Mayers and Marcus Stoinis contributing with some runs. However, LSG could only manage a total of 159 runs, and Rahul later mentioned that they could have scored 10 more runs, which could have changed the outcome of the match.
Chasing a target of 160, Punjab Kings lost their openers early during the power play. Except for Sikandar Raza, who was declared the player of the match, and Matthew Short, none of the other Punjab Kings batsmen played a significant inning. Raza scored 57 runs, while Short chipped in with 34 runs, as Punjab Kings reached 161 for 8 in 19.3 overs.
Despite losing quick wickets in succession, Punjab Kings held their nerve, and Shahrukh Khan’s aggressive 23 runs off 10 deliveries guided the team to a thrilling two-wicket win. For LSG, Yudhvir Singh, Mark Wood, and Ravi Bishnoi took two wickets each.
With this win, Punjab Kings jumped two positions to number 4 in the IPL points table, showcasing the competitive nature of the tournament and how every win and loss can impact the team rankings. The trend of the home team losing in the IPL matches continued, adding to the unpredictability and excitement of the tournament.
Also Read: IPL 2023: Top 5 Must-Have Fantasy Picks For MI vs KKR Game
