PBKS vs LSG IPL 2023

Punjab Kings fall short as Lucknow Super Giants waltz to 56-run victory

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.

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.