Lucknow Super Gaints jumped up to the third spot on the upper-half of the points table as they defeated Punjab Kings by 20 runs at MCA Stadium, Pune to register their sixth win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. After setting a 154-run target, KL Rahul & Co came up with a promising bowling show to restrict Mayank Agarwal’s Punjab to 133/8 in 20 overs.
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Punjab Kings went off to a decent start in the chase of 154 as the opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Mayank Agarwal posted 35 runs within five overs. Before they could take the partnership ahead, the pair was broken by Dushmantha Chameera. The Lankan pacer struck in the fifth over and got the better of PBKS skipper Mayank Agarwal for a 17-ball 25.
Shikhar Dhawan looked uncomfortable right from the beginning of the innings. Despite being in a good form the left-hand batter was finding it difficult to connect the ball and ultimately, Ravi Bishnoi ended his struggle with leg spin. The moment Dhawan looked to play a big shot, he was knocked over by the young wrist-spinner.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa was next in the line to lose his wicket to a spinner. Eight deliveries after Dhawan’s dismissal, the Lanka batter fell prey to Krunal Pandya and ended up holing out to Lucknow captain KL Rahul near point.
It was a dire situation for Punjab as they required a solid partnership after losing three wickets in 10 overs. The English pair of Liam Livingstone and Jonny Bairstow tried to calm down the nerves with a flurry of boundaries. They managed to add 30 runs for the fourth wicket but Mohsin Khan returned into the attack and broke the partnership.
Livingstone, who smashed two maximums during his stay at the crease, fell in the 13th over after scoring 18 runs. His dismissal seemed to have sparked a little collapse as wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma (2) and Bairstow (32) lost their wickets in quick succession.
Earlier, Kagiso Rabada struck four times as Punjab Kings upped their game in the bowling department to restrict Lucknow Super Giants to 153 for 8. The second-wicket stand of 85 runs between opener Quinton de Kock (46 off 37) and Deepak Hooda (34) off 28) was the lone bright spot of LSG’s innings.
The pace trio of Rababda (4/38), Arshdeep Singh (0/23) and Sandeep Sharma (1/18) delivered in different ways, while leg spinner Rahul Chahar chipped in with a couple of wickets.
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Punjab pacers were impressive in the powerplay after skipper Mayank Agarwal opted to bowl, limiting LSG to 39 with the crucial wicket of in-form KL Rahul (6).
While the ever-improving Arshdeep and the seasoned Sandeep got the ball to swing, it was Rabada who got rid of the opposition skipper. The South African speedster got one to straighten from good length proving it to be too good for Rahul, making it look like a proper Test match dismissal.
With the first four overs only fetching 16 runs, de Kock broke the shackles for LSG by smashing his fellow countryman Rabada for successive sixes, one a straight hit that landed on the boundary rope while the other maximum came via a massive hoick over midwicket.
Hooda, who struggled to rotate strike early on in his innings, got going with a straight six off Rishi Dhawan. Sandeep was brilliant in his first spell considering only eight runs in his three overs.
(With PTI Inputs)
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