KL Rahul of Lucknow Super Giants during match 21 of the Tata Indian Premier League between the Lucknow Super Giants and the Punjab Kings held at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow, on the 15th April 2023
Photo by: Prashant Bhoot / SPORTZPICS for IPL
A fighting half-century from Sikandar Raza and an entertaining cameo by Shahrukh Khan powered Punjab Kings to a hard-fought two-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Saturday.
With this win, PBKS has jumped to fourth position in the points table with three wins and two losses in five matches. They have a total of six points. LSG is in second position with a similar win-loss record, but they have an inferior net-run-rate which puts them below toppers Rajasthan Royals.
In the chase of 160 runs, Punjab Kings struggled at the start as IPL debutant Yudhvir Singh picked up wickets of Atharva Taide (0) and Prabhsimran Singh (4) to reduce PBKS to 17/2 in 2.2 overs.
Matthew Short looked in good touch, smashing Avesh Khan for three straight fours in the third over.Short looked to build a stand with Harpreet Bhatia, but was dismissed on the final ball of the sixth over for 34 off 22 balls, consisting of five fours and a six. Krishnappa Gowtham dislodged his stumps to send PBKS sinking at 45/3 in 6 overs.
PBKS crossed the 50-run mark in 7.2 overs.
Harpreet Bhatia and Sikandar Raza carried the chase forward. At the end of 10 overs, PBKS was at 68/3, with Harpreet (17*) and Raza (11*) unbeaten at the crease.
Krunal Pandya disrupted PBKS’s efforts once again as he dismissed Harpeet for 22 off 22 balls. Yudhvir Singh caught the batter at deep backward square. PBKS was at 75/4 in 11 overs.
Raza relieved some pressure in the 13th over, smashing Krunal Pandya for two sixes and a four. The over gave away 17 runs, taking PBKS to 99/4 in 13 overs.
With help of a boundary from Raza, PBKS crossed the 100-run mark in 13.1 overs.
Ravi Bishnoi helped LSG come back into the game, dismissing a dangerous Sam Curran for just six runs. Half of the PBKS line-up was inside the hut at 112 runs in 14.3 overs.
Raza brought up his maiden half-century in just 34 balls, consisting of three fours and three sixes. But on the very next ball, he was dismissed by Mark Wood after a diving catch from KL Rahul.
PBKS was 122/6 in 15.5 overs. Shahrukh Khan was the next batter on the crease, smashing six on his very first ball. PBKS was 128/6 in 16 overs, needing 32 in the final four overs. The equation came down to 23 runs in final three overs, but Punjab lost Sikandar Raza and Jitesh Sharma in the matter of an over.
PBKS then had only two wickets remaining and needed seven off the last six balls, but Shahrukh Khan, facing Bishnoi in the final over, sealed the deal with a boundary off the third ball of the over.
Let’s now take a look at some interesting stats from the game:
–KL Rahul became the fastest batter to score 4000 IPL runs. He got to the milestone in 105 innings, while Chris Gayle had taken 112 innings.
–Saturday was LSG’s second match they lost after batting first in an IPL game. The only other instance where they lost after batting first was against Gujarat Titans at the Wankhede Stadium in IPL 2022.
–Sam Curran produced the best bowling figures on IPL captaincy debut. Against LSG, he finished with figures of 3/31. The previous best was by Sourav Ganguly, in 2008, when he, playing for KKR, registered figures of 2/21 against RCB in Mumbai.
Deepak Hooda played his 100th IPL career match when he, playing for LSG, faced PBKS on Saturday.
With inputs from ANI
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