In a TATA IPL 2023 match, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) defeated Punjab Kings by 56 runs to move to the second spot on the points table.
LSG posted a massive total of 257/5 after being put into bat, courtesy of brilliant knocks by Kyle Mayers (54 off 24), Marcus Stoinis (72 off 40), Ayush Badoni (43 off 24), and Nicholas Pooran (45 off 19). Yash Thakur (4/37) and Naveen-ul-Haq (3/30) then ran through the PBKS batting lineup, helping LSG bowl them out for 201.
Punjab Kings won the toss and elected to bowl. Shikhar Dhawan, who had recovered from an injury, was back leading the team.
Debutant Gurnoor Brar had a chance to start his IPL career on a high note as KL Rahul cut the first ball uppishly to the backward point, but Atharva Taide dropped the catch. The debutant bowled a good first over and gave away just two runs.
Kyle Mayers, however, went on the attack straightaway in the next over, hitting four fours off Arshdeep Singh.
Kagiso Rabada brought the first breakthrough by sending back Rahul (12 off 9). Rahul had hit a six over long off the previous ball, but Rabada bounced back to have him caught at slip off the next.
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Mayers continued to attack and brought up his fifty in style, off just 20 balls, lofting one over long on for a six off a Rabada No ball. 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 teams as LSG reached 74/2 at the end of the first six overs.
Then, Badoni and Stoinis were in full swing, they bring up their 50-run partnership in just 26 balls. The duo looked unstoppable as they kept the scoreboard ticking with ease. PBKS had a chance to break the partnership when Stoinis mistimed a shot to long off, off Chahar’s delivery, but Livingstone’s touch on the ropes resulted in a boundary instead of a catch.
However, Livingstone redeemed himself in the next over, dismissing Badoni who had scored a quickfire 43 runs off 24 balls, thus breaking the 89-run partnership.
Nicholas Pooran, the hard-hitting West Indian batsman, came in next and wasted no time, hitting three fours off his first three balls in the Livingstone over.
Stoinis brought up his half-century off just 31 balls, as he and Pooran continued to hit boundaries at will, adding another 76 runs off just 30 balls. Finally, Sam Curran broke the partnership in the penultimate over, dismissing Stoinis for an impressive 72 runs off 40 balls.
Deepak Hooda joined Pooran and the duo continued the onslaught, taking LSG to a mammoth total of 257/5, hitting a total of 26 fours and 16 sixes in the process – the second-highest total ever in the IPL.
Chasing the target of 258, Punjab Kings lost captain Shikhar Dhawan early in the first over as Stoinis caught him at deep backward point. In the fourth over, Naveen-ul-Haq took the wicket of Prabhsimran Singh, who heaved one straight to the deep backward square leg fielder.
Punjab Kings never really got going in their chase, losing wickets at regular intervals. Atharva Taide (66 off 36) fought valiantly, but he was the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal performance by PBKS.
LSG’s bowlers were exceptional, with Yash Thakur and Naveen-ul-Haq being the pick of the lot. PBKS were bowled out for 201, which resulted in them falling far short of the target.
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