Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza, playing his debut IPL season, smashed his maiden half century before Shahrukh Khan completed the the chase of Lucknow's 159/8 to help Punjab register their third victory of the season and move up to fourth in the IPL standings.
After stand-in captain Sam Curran and fast bowler Kagiso Rabada picked 3-31 and 2-34 respectively to keep Lucknow Super Giants to 159/8, Raza hit 57 off 41 balls to bring Punjab's chase on track, followed by Shahrukh slamming 23 not out to ensure the side's third victory of the competition.
For Lucknow, who have faced their first loss at home in the ongoing season, questions will be raised over introducing Ravi Bishnoi late in the attack, from the 15th over, as well as of captain K.L. Rahul making 74, but not attacking much in the middle overs.
Curran Put Punjab in to Bat First
Lucknow captain KL Rahul top-scored with 74 off 56 balls in an innings during which he was unable to attack as wickets fell from the other end. The hosts had 49/0 on the board in powerplay but made only 62/4 in the middle overs and faltered in the end as Punjab picked four wickets while conceding only 48 runs in the last five overs.
On a greenish pitch with some bare patches, Kyle Mayers began by sweeping Matt Short for a six over deep backward square leg. Arshdeep Singh got some good bounce while Rabada hit Rahul on his gloves.
Rahul then replied with a stunning lofted inside-out drive over extra cover for four. Mayers cut the slowdown effect by lofting a short and wide ball from Curran over cover point for six, followed by pulling Rabada high over the deep mid-wicket fence for the same result.
In a bid to break free from dot-ball pressure, Mayers went for the pull but holed out to deep backward square leg off Brar. In the next over, Deepak Hooda was trapped lbw by a skiddy delivery from Sikandar Raza while going for an expansive slog.
With the pitch offering a hint of turn and grip to spinners, Rahul went for strike-rotation alongside Krunal Pandya while cutting off Curran past short third and slapping Arshdeep over mid-on to collect a brace of boundaries.
Rahul got his fifty in 40 balls with a lofted drive over Rahul Chahar's head for four. But Krunal fell in the 15th over to Rabada, miscuing a pull and Shahrukh Khan at deep mid-wicket flicked the ball in the air, went outside the field of play and took the catch on the rebound.
Rabada struck another blow when Nicholas Pooran holed out to deep mid-wicket, falling for a golden duck. Marcus Stoinis teed off by smacking Chahar for consecutive sixes, followed by Rahul cutting Rabada over deep point for another maximum.
Curran took out Stoinis in the 18th over by taking a review on the batter trying to help through fine leg, and replays showed the ball taking a glove edge behind to the keeper. Rahul ramped Arshdeep over short third for four, before holing out to long-on in the 19th over.
Curran had impact player K. Gowtham and debutant Yudhvir Singh Charak holing out to fielders in the deep on consecutive deliveries in the final over to keep Lucknow to one short of 160.
Punjab's Chase
Lucknow had a fiery start to their defence of 159 through debutant pacer Yudhvir Singh Charak. He rushed Atharva Taide for pace and on the third ball, he had the batter top-edging a pull to the third man.
Matthew Short was impressive in his 22-ball 34 -- pulling, driving, and flicking with ease against Avesh Khan while taking back-to-back fours on short balls from Yudhvir. He then dispatched an overpitched ball from K Gowtham with a lofted drive over long-on for six.
But the off-spinner had the last laugh as on the last ball of Power-play, Short punched straight to a reverse-cupping mid-off. From ther', Lucknow's bowlers kept things under control, as Harpreet Bhatia heaved straight to deep backward square leg off Krunal Pandya in the 11th over, despite surviving a direct-hit chance previously.
Raza injected momentum in the chase by lofting Gowtham down the ground for six, followed by hoicking two sixes and a four off short balls from Krunal through the mid-wicket region in the 13th over.
Though Curran and Jitesh Sharma fell cheaply, Raza marched forward to pull Mark Wood through the gap between deep square leg and fine leg to perfection for four and took a single through deep backward square leg to get his fifty in 34 balls.
With Shahrukh teeing off from the word go by smacking Wood over long-on for six, Raza crunched a drive off Avesh for four to bring the equation to 23 runs needed off 18 balls. But Bishnoi dismissed Raza for 57 after the right-handed batter swept straight to deep backward square leg.
Shahrukh got a top edge on six off Wood while Harpreet Brar drove him through extra cover for four. But the pacer bounced back by getting Brar to edge behind in the penultimate over. After taking two runs each on the first two balls, Shahrukh finished off the chase by hammering Bishnoi through long-off for four to seal the win.
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