Marred by the absence of season’s highest run-getter and skipper Shikhar Dhawan, Punjab pulled off an unbelievable win, defeating KL Rahul and co. at their den, and breaking their two-game profitable run.
Chasing a aggressive 160, Punjab misplaced wickets at common intervals however Zimbabwean Sikandar performed a calculative 41-ball 57 knock to maintain his facet alive within the chase all through.
Although when Sikandar fell within the 18th over, it gave Lucknow an opportunity to steal a win however swashbuckling Shahrukh took the sport away from the house group along with his 10-ball 23 not out cameo with Punjab crossing the end line with 3 balls to spare.
As It Happened
Invited to bat, captain KL Rahul smashed his first fifty of this season however Punjab Kings roared again with well timed wickets to limit the Lucknow facet to a modest 159 for eight.
In the chase, Raza, who additionally picked a wicket along with his spin bowling, cracked a accountable knock after Matthew Short’s 22-ball 34. Raza hit 4 boundaries and three sixes in his match-winning knock.
On a two-paced wicket, KL Rahul displayed nice composure en route his 56-ball 74 as he added 53 and 48 runs with Kyle Mayers (29) and Krunal Pandya (18) for the primary and third wickets respectively.
However, LSG could not end issues with a flourish as they misplaced 4 wickets for 48 runs within the final 5 overs, with Sam Curran choosing up three of these.
Kagiso Rabada (2/34), Arshdeep Singh (1/22), Harpreet Brar (1/10) and Sikandar Raza (1/19) had been additionally amongst wickets.
Defending the full, pacer Yudhvir Singh made a sensational debut, dismissing fellow debutant Atharva Taide (0) and Prabhsimran Singh (4) — who changed Rahul Chahar as affect sub — in his first two overs to scale back PBKS to 17 for two.
Matthew Short seemed in good nick, slamming three boundaries off Avesh Khan, earlier than producing two hits to the fence off Yudhvir.
Krishnappa Gowtham, who changed Kyle Mayers as affect sub, too, was smacked for a six by Short however the spinner had the batter caught by Stoinis as Punjab slumped to 45 for 3 in 6 overs.
Raza then took the onus on himself as he and Harpreet Singh Bhatia (22) added run-a-ball 30 earlier than Pandya broke the stand, holing out the previous at deep backward sq..
Raza exploded within the thirteenth over, clobbering two successive sixes and a 4 off Pandya to pile up 17 runs.
However, KL Rahul produced a sensational effort to get rid off Jitesh Sharma, whereas Ravi Bishnoi, launched after 14 overs, bought rid off Curran (6) earlier than accounting for Raza to boost hopes of an upset.
Needing 21 in 13 balls, Shahrukh despatched Woods crusing for a most, whereas Brar too picked up a 4 to deliver down the required runs.
Earlier, Rahul and Mayers supplied LSG a flying begin with the burly left-handed West Indian being the aggressor initially.
While Rahul dealt in boundaries, Mayers dealt in maximums.
Mayers blasted Mathew Short over deep backward sq. leg and adopted it up with a backward punch for an additional six over covers off Sam Curran earlier than depositing Rabada into the stands as LSG raced away to 40 for no loss within the powerplay.
With the pitch providing a little bit of grip and switch, Curran, who led PBKS rather than an injured Shikhar Dhawan, introduced within the spinners.
Harpreet Brar quickly eliminated Mayers, who was holed out to deep backward sq. leg within the eighth over, whereas Raza trapped Deepak Hooda (2) as LSG slipped to 62 for two.
Rahul then mixed with Pandya to take LSG previous the 100-mark earlier than Rabada returned to dismiss the latter within the fifteenth over.
Two balls later, star of final match Nicholas Pooran too fell whereas on the lookout for an enormous hit with Shahrukh Khan taking the catch.
Marcus Stoinis, nevertheless, bought going from the beginning, slamming Rahul Chahar for back-to-back sixes, whereas KL Rahul then reduce Rabada for a most as LSG reached 138 for 4 in 17 overs.
However, the hosts did not get the ultimate push as Curran earned the wicket of Stoinis after profitable a video referral following a faint nick off the batter’s gloves.
Arshdeep Singh then struck along with his knuckle ball, eradicating Rahul, who was holed out at long-on, whereas Shahrukh Khan as soon as once more picked up a well-judged catch to do away with Yudhvir Singh.
(With inputs from PTI)
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com