Punjab Kings ace the defence trial by Lucknow Super Giants

Posted by author-avatar

Having chased their way up the leaderboard, Punjab Kings were thrown a fresh challenge in Mullanpur. The unfamiliarity with batting first could not interfere with their hot streak in IPL 2026 as the table-toppers fetched a jumbo win on the weekend that will aid their net run rate. Going at the rate of knots, they thrashed out a scoreline of 193 runs in 15 overs to bring the 300-mark within the realms of possibility. Even though Manimaran Siddharth, Mohsin Khan, and Prince Yadav joined forces to keep the total down to 254/7, it proved too steep a climb for the now eighth-placed team. Four of their top five batters got decent starts, but neither could convert it into an innings of note.

The action began with a bang as Mohammed Shami struck in the very first over. He netted the big fish, Prabhsimran Singh, who failed to follow up his undefeated 80 against Mumbai Indians. Lured into the drive by an overpitched wobble-seamer, he nicked off to a wide slip. An early breakthrough must’ve sent Punjab Kings over the moon but Cooper Connolly and Priyansh Arya quickly yanked them back down to earth. The gobsmacking 182-run alliance came off 80 balls, with the ball flying time and again in the arc from the sightscreen to deep square leg. The power-hitting by the duo helped them secure 63 runs in the PowerPlay, but in all honesty, even the ensuing overs seemed to have been delivered under the mandatory fielding restrictions as Lucknow Super Giants endured a proper shellacking. Part-timer Aiden Markram was the biggest casualty of the night, conceding five sixes in an over, with both the southpaws sharing the spoils.

The bowling attack finally heaved a sigh of relief in the 14th over as Connolly skied a thick outside edge upon swinging across the line off Prince Yadav, who collected his tenth scalp in this edition. Back in the hut for a brilliant 87, the Australian opener made room for the in-form Shreyas Iyer. Though even before the skipper could get his eye in, Arya fell to Siddharth, his hard slap towards long-on ending up in the bucket hands of Mitchell Marsh. With both the set batters perishing in quick succession, Lucknow Super Giants finally had some much-needed breathing space. Much to their joy, the double whammy opened the floodgates. It was a rare bad day at the office for Iyer, whose lofted drive flew to short third man. Siddharth added one more to his kitty when Nehal Wadhera bungled up the heave to cow corner, and suddenly, it was 208/5 from an authoritative 185/1.


Marcus Stoinis (29 off 16) and Shashank Singh (17 off 6) came in clutch, adding a nimble 44 at the death. Staring daggers at the highest total of the season, Lucknow Super Giants were full of regret over their decision to not review a confident lbw shout by Mohsin in the nascent stage of the innings. Reprieved on 4 and still grappling for rhythm at 19 of 22, Connolly then ran away with the game with an alacrity that would put a loan defaulter fleeing the country to shame. All the bowlers returned economies of more than 10, except for Prince. He escaped punishment by mixing his lengths and rolling his fingers across the seam often, finishing with a dozen dots and two scalps in his full quota. For a relative greenhorn possessing two years of experience across formats at the senior level in domestic cricket, his yorker too is a tough nut to crack.

Lucknow Super Giants turned up for the chase with an element of surprise in tow. Generally a lower-middle order bat, Ayush Badoni was promoted up the order to support Marsh. A target of 255 was, of course, a daunting proposition but they were on the right path till the fag end of the PowerPlay. Vijaykumar Vyshak bowled a slower variation on a good length, deceiving Badoni all ends up with the change of pace for 35 off 21. An extra fifteen runs or so at that stage may have been ideal, however Badoni’s initial struggle against Arshdeep Singh limited their progress.

Rishabh Pant announced his arrival with a couple of sixes off Marco Jansen. His partnership with Marsh, who picked the bones out of Yuzvendra Chahal’s tempter, was on the verge of a half-century until the leggie had the last laugh. He was able to keep the pressure on despite that slog sweep, with just 20 runs coming off 3 overs. As the asking rate skyrocketed to 15 runs per over, something had to give. Marsh blinked first, dragging the first ball after the strategic timeout to Xavier Bartlett. Although Pant counterpunched in the same over with two maximums, the writing appeared to be on the wall for Lucknow Super Giants when the captain edged a tramline kisser.

The visitors stood at 128/4 in the 13th over, needing 126 from 42. Experience took centerstage in Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran but the former, having a poor tournament, couldn’t hang around for long regardless of a dropped catch by Shashank Singh. It wasn’t his ultimate goof-up of the night in the field, much to the chagrin of Ricky Ponting, as Markram and Mukul Choudhary flexed their muscles. Bartlett found himself in the firing line, concluding the northern derby with an expensive spell worth 54/0.

Punjab Kings have ample time to rest and recharge before they land in Delhi for next Saturday’s double-header. Lucknow Super Giants, meanwhile, head back home where Rajasthan Royals await on Wednesday, April 22.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *