Match No. 38 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) featured the Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali. Shikhar Dhawan, the captain of the hosts, elected to bowl first after winning the toss. Kagiso Rabada came into the attack and dismissed the LSG captain for a mere 12 runs, allowing Punjab to make an early breakthrough.
Kyle Mayers (54 off 24 balls) resumed his power-hitting as he gave the visiting team a solid start, and LSG were 74/2 after the powerplay. During the sixth over, Kyle Mayers was able to score fifty runs in just 20 deliveries. Rabada’s second strike terminated the LSG opener’s stay in the same over.
Meanwhile, Ayush Badoni entered LSG’s innings and had an immediate impact.
He partnered with all-rounder Marcus Stoinis for 50 runs off of 26 deliveries as LSG reached 150 runs in 12.2 overs. With 43 runs scored off 24 deliveries, Liam Livingstone, an England all-rounder, dismissed Badoni. His delivery contained three boundaries and the same number of sixes.
In the fourteenth over, Livingstone entered the field and, upon observing Ayush Badoni play a reverse sweep stroke, he took the delivery on the second ball. In the following over, he bowled around the leg stump, but the LSG batsman hit a six-over deep backwards square leg. Livingstone caused Badoni to reach for the third delivery of the over, but this time fielder Rahul Chahar at deep backward square leg took the catch to end the batter’s innings.
PBKS is presently sixth in the IPL 2023 standings, having won four of their seven matches to date. On April 22, they defeated the five-time IPL champion Mumbai Indians (MI) by 13 runs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. In the meantime, LSG is ranked fourth in the table with eight points. In their previous match against the defending champions, the Gujarat Titans (GT), they suffered a crushing defeat.
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