Punjab Kings Beat Lucknow Super Giants By 2 Wickets

Lucknow: Hard-fought fifty from Sikandar Raza and a fiery cameo from Shah Rukh Khan powered Shikhar Dhawan-less Punjab Kings to a memorable 2-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Chasing the target of 160 runs, Punjab Kings dealt with a huge blow in the very first over as opener Atharva Tayde got out for a duck. Prabhsimran Singh was dismissed in the third over and Matthew Short got out in the sixth over, leaving Punjab Kings reeling at 45 after losing 3 wickets in first 6 overs.

Earlier, Punjab Kings won the toss and invited Lucknow Super Giants to bat first. For Lucknow, KL Rahul and Mayers powered their team to a solid start with the latter being the aggressor initially. Rahul dealt in boundaries, hitting seven fours and a six to score his first fifty in IPL 2023, while Mayers dealt in maximums. The Lucknow Super Giants skipper showed great composure as he went on to hit 56-ball 74, and also added 53 and 48 runs with Kyle Mayers (29) and Krunal Pandya (18) for the first and third wickets respectively.

KL Rahul also became the fastest batter in IPL history to 4000 runs, achieving the feat in his 105th innings, surpassing West Indies’ Chris Gayle (112 innings). Rahul remained solid but still LSG failed to put up a massive total as he did not get support from other batters of his team. Despite having a flying start, scoring 40 runs for no loss in the powerplay, Lucknow couldn’t finish on a high as Punjab Kings roared back by taking four wickets for 48 runs in the last five overs. The timely wickets in death overs helped Punjab restrict Lucknow Super Kings to a modest 159 for 8 in 20 overs.