Lucknow: Riding on some thunderbolts delivered by debutant speedster Mayank Yadav, LSG secured first points of the IPL 2024 season with a 21-run win over Punjab Kings at the BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
After stand-in kaptaan Nicholas Pooran won the toss and elected to bat first, Quinton de Kock’s fifty and quickfire 40s from Krunal Pandya and the skipper himself powered us an impressive total of 199/8 in 20 overs.
With Shikar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow putting on a 102-run stand for PBKS’ opening wicket, LSG back was against the wall. However, Mayank Yadav’s fiery spell of 3/27 in four overs turned the tide in our favour and we restricted the Kings to 178/5.
QDK, Nicky P and Krunal take flight
Batting first, KL Rahul, playing as an impact player of the night, and Quinton de Kock started cautiously with the first two overs yielding just 12.
However, QDK shifted gears in the third over, hitting Kagiso Rabada for a crisp boundary towards point and followed it up with a powerful six off a backfoot drive.
KL Rahul also struck Arshdeep Singh for a six and a boundary from the other end but was caught at backward point while trying to up the tempo.
Devdutt Padikkal and Marcus Stoinis played brief but impactful cameos. Yet, it was Quinton de Kock’s resolute knock of 54 off 38 deliveries that provided the foundation for a late finish.
Our innings was delicately poised at 78-3 after nine overs. Quinton de Kock and Nicky P strung together a crucial 47-run partnership in 27 balls for the fourth wicket and ensured that the momentum did not slip away.
QDK’s wicket in the 14th over, Pooran’s dismissal in the 16th and with Stoinis back in the pavilion, we needed a hero in the death overs and up stepped Krunal Pandya.
Krunal’s 43 off 22 included four boundaries and two maximums. He targeted the 18th over bowled by Harshal Patel and took the score to 199.
Fire, and more fire – Mayank Yadav is here
Heroes are born among adversities and Mayank Yadav’s story wasn’t any different tonight.
He was brought into the attack in the 10th over. The scores read 88/0 with Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow well set at the crease. Though Yadav’s first over went for 10, his consistent pace caught both senior openers by surprise.
Yadav came back stronger to break the century stand in his next over. He bounced one short to Bairstow to get the crucial breakthrough and then bamboozled Prabhsimran Singh with a scorcher for his second.
The next to fall was Jitesh Sharma. Mayank Yadav cramped Jitesh for room and used his raw pace to force the Punjab batter to play one straight to short mid-wicket.
Mayank finished his four overs with 3/27. The 21-year-old also breached the 150kmph mark several times throughout the spell, with his fastest measuring 155.8.
After Mayank handed us the opening, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq and Mohsin Khan collectively made sure that the Kings ran out of oxygen. Mohsin picked up the other two wickets for us, dismissing Shikhar and Sam Curran of successive deliveries.
What next for the Super Giants?
LSG will head to M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru to play RCB in our third game of IPL 2024. LSG have one win and a loss this season, RCB have played three so far, winning one and losing two.
Brief Scores: Lucknow Super Giants 199/8 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 54; Sam Curran 3/28) beat Punjab Kings 178/5 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 70, Mayank Yadav 3/27) by 21 runs.
