Despite a spirited batting performance, our boys went down to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 56 runs in Mohali on Friday, April 28.

Gabbar Returns:

Ahead of the clash at our home den, Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, we received a massive boost as our captain Shikhar Dhawan was back to lead our boys.

Gurnoor Brar Makes Debut:

We won the toss and opted to field first. We made four changes to our playing XI. Dhawan, Sikandar Raza, Kagiso Rabada and debutant Gurnoor Brar replaced Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Matthew Short, Nathan Ellis and Harpreet Brar.

Kagiso Rabada’s Breakthrough:

Opening batters KL Rahul and Kyle Mayers forged a 41-run stand before our South African pacer Kagiso Rabada dismissed the LSG skipper in his first over.

Rabada continued his impressive spell. He sent back Mayers in the sixth over.

Liam Livingstone Brings Some Relief:

Ayush Badoni and Marcus Stoinis stitched an 89-run partnership for the third wicket before our star all-rounder Liam Livingstone provided us with a much-needed breakthrough. The England star dismissed Badoni in his first over.

Challenging End To Our Death Overs:

Our bowlers were put under pressure by the LSG batters in the death overs. However, Sam Curran got the wicket of Marcus Stoinis in the 18th over.

Our left-arm pacer Arshdeep later trapped Nicholas Pooran in front of the stumps as LSG ended their innings with 257/5 in their 20 overs.

Early Upset:

Chasing a mammoth total, we suffered an early blow as our captain Shikhar Dhawan departed in the first over of the chase.

Atharva Taide joined Prabhsimran in the middle. The duo played some scintillating shots to add 28 runs for the second wicket.

But, Prabhsimran had to walk back courtesy of Naveen-ul-Haq.

Atharva-Raza Partnership:

After losing two early wickets, Taide and Sikandar Raza steadied the ship as they counter-attacked the LSG bowlers to keep us in the hunt. Our swashbuckling batters established a 50-run stand off from 29 balls.

Maiden TATA IPL fifty for Atharva Taide:

Atharva Taide continued his dazzling knock as the southpaw notched up his first TATA IPL fifty off just 26 balls. His innings included eight fours and two sixes.

Loss Of Momentum In Middle Overs:

Despite putting their best foot forward, we lost Atharva (66) and Raza (36) in quick succession.

Batting at no.5, Livingstone clobbered two fours and one maximum before departing for a 14-ball 23.

Jitesh, Curran Offer Resistance:

With the required run rate mounting with each over, our middle-order batters, Jitesh Sharma (24) and Sam Curran (24) played eye-catching cameos.

Curan, in the process, completed 500 runs in the TATA IPL.

Unfortunately, we lost wickets at regular intervals in the final few overs to suffer a 56-run loss.

We had a tough day in Mohali. But we will bounce back stronger.

Brief Scores: Lucknow Super Giants 257/5 in 20 overs (Marcus Stoinis 72, Kyle Mayers 54; Kagiso Rabada 2/52) beat Punjab Kings 201 in 19.5 overs (Atharva Taide 66, Sikandar Raza 36; Yash Thakur 4/37) by 56 runs.

Player of the Match: Marcus Stoinis.