IPL 2023, Punjab Super Kings (PKBS) vs Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Top Performances: Marcus Stoinis’ 72, Kyle Mayers’ 54, and Atharva Taide’s 66 are top performances. LSG beat PBKS and move to 2nd spot in points table.
Brief Scores: LSG 257-5 (Stoinis 72, Mayers 54; Rabada 2-52) beat Punjab Kings 201-10 (Taide 66, Raza 36; Naveen 3-30) by 56 runs.
Player Of The Match: Marcus Stoinis (72 off 40)
The 38th Match between Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants took place at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali. Shikhar Dhawan who was back in the Punjab setup won the toss and elected to bowl first against LSG. Punjab made three changes, bringing in Raza, Captain himself, and debutant Gurnoor Brar. LSG went with the same eleven.
Lucknow Super Giants clinched the win against Punjab with their outstanding performance at the crease
LSG started the innings in sixth gear plus nitro’s as they couldn’t stop themselves from hitting boundaries every over. Kyle Mayers jet rocketed LSG towards 74 runs in the first six overs as all the Punjab bowlers were trashed left right and center. Punjab thought of taking a breather after Mayers was dismissed, however, Aayush Badoni and Marcus Stoinis forgot to carry the air brakes as they accelerated and steamrolled Punjab bowlers and belted a 89 runs partnership of just 52 deliveries to take LSG to 175-3 inside 14 overs. A fall of wicket brought in Nicholas Pooran and boy oh boy, he came in-set straight from the dressing room and hit 19 balls 45 to steer away LSG towards 257-5. RCB’s highest total of 263/5 looked in danger for a wee bit as the highest IPL total of this decade was smothered by LSG.
Chasing the second-highest ever total of IPL, 258, you need not just a good start but a great start. And unfortunately, the great start came for LSG as captain Dhawan was dismissed on the fifth ball of the chase. Apart from Atharva’s Taide’s brilliant 36-ball 66, the entire team looked like they had given hope of chasing this gigantic total. Naveen ul-haq and Ravi Bishnoi slowed down Punjab’s innings with their variations and once Taide’ was dismissed, it was just a matter of time before the innings folded. Sam Curran and Jitesh Sharma played a small cameo, but the coast was far away with not much left in the fuel tank to anchor their ship towards safety as LSG had a one-sided one at the end winning by 56 runs.
Read More: IPL 2023, MI vs PBKS: Curran, Arshdeep help PBKS clinch thriller against MI; Punjab move to 5th spot
Talking Points from PBKS vs LSG
A below-par day for Dhawan the captain as he looked out of sorts with his bowling and batting combinations. Chasing 258, after losing two wickets inside four overs, it was the perfect time for Liam Livingstone to set the stage on fire but Dhawan had other ideas sending Sikandar Raza ahead of the big hitters. While KL the captain had his thinking cap on sending in Stoinis up the order and using as many as 9 bowlers, highlighting the depth in their team.
Top three performances from PBKS vs LSG, Mohali
“Mayor” of Six Hitting–Kyle sabotaged Punjab Bowlers with 24 runs off 54 balls
Kyle Mayers looked in some touch and punished Arshdeep Singh for 17 runs in the second over of the innings. He continued the momentum and again hit a 17 run over this time off Sikandar Raza. Two massive sixes to dislodge Raza’s confidence for the rest of the match. Mayer was so good tonight that he smashed a boundary to every bowler he faced, right from Arshdeep to Brar to Raza and Rabada. Neither of them could get away from the wrath of Mayer who fired away towards 24 balls 54.
Marcus ‘Stoined’ Punjab with his all-around show
Marcus Stoinis was promoted up the batting order today to have his eye in after the power play. The Australian didn’t disappoint any who believed in him as he ensured the start given by Mayers wasn’t wasted. A very streak-smart inning didn’t take unwanted risks but pure cricketing shots and taking on the inexperienced bowlers empowered Stoinis towards a 30-ball fifty. In the next 10 deliveries, stoinis shifted gears to add another 21 runs off just 10 deliveries. A well-compiled 72 runs off just 40 deliveries was the pillar of LSG scoring a mammoth 257 runs.
The all-rounder was hungry for more. After a quick shower mid-innings, Stoinis was ready on the mark to bowl the first over and showed Dhawan the way towards the dressing room in the fifth delivery of the innings contributing with both bat and ball.
Atharva “Taide” LSG bowlers with skillful 36 balls 66
Coming into bat in the first over of the innings not much was expected of Taide. However, the youngster showed the world that he is here to stay. An uncapped Indian player, hitting an international superstar for 19 runs in the over is a sight to behold as Atharva ‘tied’ Stoinis’ legs to hit him all over the park. Punjab were 31-2 after four overs and needed miraculous innings to come even closer to the mountain they had to climb.
However, they had an expert trekker in the form of Atharva who showed class and innovation, especially the late uppercut of a fast bouncer and having the cricketing brain to be ready for a slower delivery to scoop it over fine leg for a boundary of the next delivery in the 12th over was the highlight of his innings. Taide scored 36 balls 66 and was the sole shining star in Punjab’s dark gloomy galaxy.
Points Table Scenario & What's Next
With this mammoth win, LSG jumped over CSK and GT to secure 2nd spot in the points table with a +0.84 NRR. Gujarat Titans will look for redemption against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on 29th April at 3:30 PM.
Read More: IPL 2023: Season of Close Games: From Rinku’s 5 last over sixes to Pooran’s astronomical laser show
IPL 2023 Points Table
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