Irregular wickets through the run-chase came back to haunt PBKS as they suffered a disappointing 20-run loss to LSG in a league-stage encounter of the IPL 2022 on April 29. Despite chasing a low-key target of 154 runs, Mayank Agarwal’s men fell way short at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
Gearing themselves up for a consistent go at the boundary line, Punjab paid the prize for their one-dimensional, high-risk approach on a surface offering steep bounce to the seamers and reasonable turn to the spinners. They managed to respond to LSG’s insignificant but fighting 153/8 with an insipid 133/8 of their own.
PBKS needed one or two of their top six players to guide the innings through at his end. But one after the other, the Punjab batters got in, tried to play the big shots and faltered in the process.
While the likes of Shikhar Dhawan (5), Bhanuka Rajapaksa (9) and Jitesh Sharma (2) could never get in, Agarwal (25), Jonny Bairstow (32) and Liam Livingstone (16) were equally guilty of not going on to produce a substantial knock, which would’ve allowed PBKS to sail through.
In the end, allrounder Rishi Dhawan (21*) and lower-order batters were left to try and make the scorecard look a little less embarrassing for their team, with the game realistically gone in the first 15 overs of the chase.
But even as the PBKS batting was poor to a large extent, much of the credit for their downfall shall go to a collective bowling effort from Lucknow. The KL Rahul led side had youngster Mohsin Khan once again emerging as their biggest positive, taking three for 24 off his four overs. Khan was brilliant with the new and the old ball and proved to his team’s hero defending an under-par score.
Fellow quick Dushmantha Chameera (2/17) and experienced left-arm quick Krunal Pandya (2/11) were also fantastic in their respective four-over spells, taking the game further away from the opposition with their pace variations and smarts.
Krunal, often flying under the radar, has been excellent for LSG throughout the season with his high-quality defensive spin bowling in the middle overs. He is currently the second most economical bowler of the tournament behind Sunil Narine.
Saved by their bowlers in the second half, LSG would know they left a bit to be desired as far as their batting is concerned. They lost Rahul (6) early in the proceedings and required critical knocks from Quinton de Kock (46) and Deepak Hooda (34) to make it past the 150-mark. The latter’s run-out kicked off a horrible collapse for LSG, the team going from a position of strength at 98 for two to falling way short of a score in excess of 160-170.
LSG would also be thankful to lower-order batters Chameera and Mohsin for their valiant contributions with bat in hand. While Chameera made a 10-ball 17, Mohsin struck an unbeaten 13 off 6 balls at his end to ensure Lucknow had something to bowl at.
PBKS had an interesting day with the ball, with their two most economical bowlers Arshdeep Singh (0/23) and Sandeep Sharma (1/18) taking a solitary wicket despite some high disciplined bowling, but their relatively more expensive players Kagiso Rabada (4/38) and Rahul Chahar (2/30) made six scalps between them.
Brief scores
Lucknow Super Giants 153/8 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 46, Deepak Hooda 34; Kagiso Rabada 4/38) beat Punjab Kings 133/8 in 20 overs (Jonny Bairstow 32; Mohsin Khan 3/24, Krunal Pandya 2/11) by 20 runs
