Marred by means of the absence of season’s easiest run-getter and skipper Shikhar Dhawan, Punjab pulled off an implausible win, defeating KL Rahul and co. at their den, and breaking their two-game successful run.
Chasing a aggressive 160, Punjab misplaced wickets at common durations however Zimbabwean Sikandar performed a calculative 41-ball 57 knock to stay his facet alive within the chase during.
Although when Sikandar fell within the 18th over, it gave Lucknow a possibility to scouse borrow a win however swashbuckling Shahrukh took the sport clear of the house staff along with his 10-ball 23 now not out cameo with Punjab crossing the end line with 3 balls to spare.
As It Happened
Invited to bat, captain KL Rahul smashed his first fifty of this season however Punjab Kings roared again with well timed wickets to limit the Lucknow facet to a modest 159 for 8.
In the chase, Raza, who additionally picked a wicket along with his spin bowling, cracked a accountable knock after Matthew Short’s 22-ball 34. Raza hit 4 barriers and 3 sixes in his match-winning knock.
On a two-paced wicket, KL Rahul displayed nice composure en direction his 56-ball 74 as he added 53 and 48 runs with Kyle Mayers (29) and Krunal Pandya (18) for the primary and 3rd wickets respectively.
However, LSG could not end issues with a flourish as they misplaced 4 wickets for 48 runs within the closing 5 overs, with Sam Curran choosing up 3 of the ones.
Kagiso Rabada (2/34), Arshdeep Singh (1/22), Harpreet Brar (1/10) and Sikandar Raza (1/19) had been additionally amongst wickets.
Defending the entire, pacer Yudhvir Singh made a sensational debut, pushing aside fellow debutant Atharva Taide (0) and Prabhsimran Singh (4) — who changed Rahul Chahar as affect sub — in his first two overs to scale back PBKS to 17 for two.
Matthew Short appeared in excellent nick, slamming 3 barriers off Avesh Khan, prior to generating two hits to the fence off Yudhvir.
Krishnappa Gowtham, who changed Kyle Mayers as affect sub, too, was once smacked for a six by means of Short however the spinner had the batter stuck by means of Stoinis as Punjab slumped to 45 for three in 6 overs.
Raza then took the onus on himself as he and Harpreet Singh Bhatia (22) added run-a-ball 30 prior to Pandya broke the stand, holing out the previous at deep backward sq..
Raza exploded within the thirteenth over, clobbering two successive sixes and a 4 off Pandya to pile up 17 runs.
However, KL Rahul produced a sensational effort to get rid off Jitesh Sharma, whilst Ravi Bishnoi, presented after 14 overs, were given rid off Curran (6) prior to accounting for Raza to lift hopes of an disappointed.
Needing 21 in 13 balls, Shahrukh despatched Woods crusing for a most, whilst Brar too picked up a 4 to convey down the desired runs.
Earlier, Rahul and Mayers equipped LSG a flying get started with the burly left-handed West Indian being the aggressor to begin with.
While Rahul dealt in barriers, Mayers dealt in maximums.
Mayers blasted Mathew Short over deep backward sq. leg and adopted it up with a backward punch for some other six over covers off Sam Curran prior to depositing Rabada into the stands as LSG raced away to 40 for no loss within the powerplay.
With the pitch providing a little of grip and switch, Curran, who led PBKS instead of an injured Shikhar Dhawan, introduced within the spinners.
Harpreet Brar quickly got rid of Mayers, who was once holed out to deep backward sq. leg within the 8th over, whilst Raza trapped Deepak Hooda (2) as LSG slipped to 62 for two.
Rahul then mixed with Pandya to take LSG previous the 100-mark prior to Rabada returned to push aside the latter within the fifteenth over.
Two balls later, big name of closing tournament Nicholas Pooran too fell whilst in search of a large hit with Shahrukh Khan taking the catch.
Marcus Stoinis, then again, were given going from the beginning, slamming Rahul Chahar for back-to-back sixes, whilst KL Rahul then lower Rabada for a most as LSG reached 138 for 4 in 17 overs.
However, the hosts did not get the general push as Curran earned the wicket of Stoinis after successful a video referral following a faint nick off the batter’s gloves.
Arshdeep Singh then struck along with his knuckle ball, getting rid of Rahul, who was once holed out at long-on, whilst Shahrukh Khan as soon as once more picked up a well-judged catch to do away with Yudhvir Singh.
(With inputs from PTI)