Jonny Bairstow, who had flopped in the previous matches, scored a good 28, then failed to take the match till the end, then Sri Lankan Bhanuka Rajapaksa was also dealt cheaply. Punjab’s last hope was Livingstone (18), but when he too got out, the Kings’ hopes of victory were also destroyed. After his dismissal, some big miracle was needed, which did not happen. And Rishi Dhawan (21 not out) fought only a losing battle. Punjab Kings scored 133 runs for 8 wickets in 20 overs of quota and they had to face defeat by 20 runs. For Lucknow Super Giants, young lefty pacer Mohsin Khan bagged three wicketz, Krunal Pandya was adjudged man of the match.
In the first innings, Lucknow Giants, batting first on the ground of Maharashtra Cricket Association, set a target of 164 runs for the victory in front of Punjab Kings, which proved to be very difficult for Punjab. Lucknow had a bad start after getting the first invitation. At one point in time the wickets fell rapidly at regular intervals. In the middle, Quinton de Kock scored 46 and Deepak Hooda scored 34, but he got out after freezing.
The tail Dushmantha and Mohsin showed some courage, then Lucknow’s score reached 153 for 8 wickets in 20 overs of quota. For Punjab, Rabada took four and Rahul Chahar took three wickets. Earlier, Punjab won the toss and decided to bowl first. Towards the end of the first innings, Punjab Kings bowled well and restricted LSG under a chaseable total.
While Lucknow are eyeing a spot on the points table and cementing their chances of making it to the play-offs, Punjab will also be looking to lift themselves above number seven. Lucknow has 10 points from 5 wins in 8 matches, while Punjab has 4 points from 4 points in the same number of matches. Punjab’ journey to the play offs will be a tough as they will need to win every match.