Led by Shreyas Iyer’s maiden IPL century, Punjab Kings ended their six-match losing streak and kept themselves in contention for a berth in the playoffs by beating Lucknow Super Giants by seven wickets. Iyer’s ton enabled PBKS to chase down 197 with two overs to spare. The victory has pushed them back to the top-four on the points table, but their qualification to the playoffs is dependent on the results of the games on Sunday.
LSG juggles it's batting order yet again
In the must-win game, the captain stood up to the challenge, scored his maiden IPL century and took the team over the line. Coming in to bat at the fall of two early wickets, he kept the chase steady as well as in control with calculated attack, and sealed the victory with a six over long on.
Josh Inglis got Lucknow Super Giants off to a flying start, crunching four boundaries in the opening over. Ayush Badoni took charge against Marco Jansen and Azmatullah Omarzai, helping LSG pick 42 runs off the last two overs of the Powerplay. Sandwiched between these two ends of the powerplay were three quiet overs, in which Arshin Kulkarni and Nicholas Pooran fell cheaply, and PBKS conceded only eight runs.
Soon after the powerplay, Badoni was sent back courtesy of smart work by Prabhsimran Singh behind the wickets. Tricked by a Yuzvendra Chahal faster delivery, Badoni missed a cut. But he went ahead with his full movement of his body and lifted his leg, when the ‘keeper cleverly whipped off the bails. Badoni’s brief blitz had bailed LSG out after a stuttered start, and it was the turn of Inglis – who had largely witnessed the carnage from the other end, to take over.
After a couple of fairly quiet overs, the opener cut loose against Vijaykumar Vyshak, clubbing the pacer for a boundary and a six. Having managed only 27 runs off his first 22 deliveries, Inglis tore into the PBKS bowlers. Arshdeep Singh bore the brunt of that attack in the 12th over, when the pacer was taken apart for 19 runs. He even went after Shashank Singh, but eventually fell to the medium pacer, but not before adding 45 off his next 22 balls.
Rishabh Pant’s troubles were mounting. The LSG batter did find a couple of early boundaries in his innings, but he looked just as scratchy as he has been all through the season. He struggled his way to a 22-ball 26
Shashank had slipped in three overs in the second half of LSG’s innings, going at less than 10 an over. Vyshak and Jansen also slipped in a few quiet overs in the death, but that came undone with Abdul Samad finding a couple of streaky boundaries in the last over against Arshdeep Singh, allowing the total to swell to a competitive 192.
Easy chase for sarpanch sahab
For the fifth time this season, Mohammed Shami struck in his first over – this time, getting Priyansh Arya to hurry on a pull and top edge a catch to mid wicket off the first ball. He pegged LSG back further by cleaning up Cooper Connolly two overs later.
Despite the two early wickets, and no sixes hit in the Powerplay, Punjab Kings motored along at a brisk pace, with at least one boundary hit in each over. By the end of the Powerplay, Prabhsimran and Iyer had found the required start to their innings, and with 65 runs on the board, they were keeping pace with the required rate.
They kept on going till the 15th over.
Pant employed two left-arm seamers – Arjun Tendulkar and Mohsin Khan – from either ends to attack the duo with tight lines and steep bounce. Prabhsimran looked in a bit of trouble, and even survived a chance when he gloved a ball to the ‘keeper, but he kept altering his position at the crease to unsettle the bowler’s lengths, with a fair degree of success.
The move paid off. He marched on to yet another half-century; this time, reaching the landmark in only 28 balls. The ‘keeper-bat survived another chance when Badoni spilled a straight chance at cover. The decision went in favour of the batter after the third umpire had a close look at the replays.
Nonetheless, that life didn’t last long as he was trapped leg-before in the next over to Arjun, becoming the pacer’s maiden victim of the season. However, by then, Prabhsimran had done the required damage and almost sealed the fate of the contest. The 140-run stand had brought the required rate to just 7-an-over at the death.
Assured, unbothered and in control. Coming in to bat after the fall of two early wickets, Shreyas looked in command of his innings, unhurried in his approach, and in control to take down all the bowlers. He was willing to hold back the attack when he wanted to, and give the charge when the ball was in his slot. He played the hook, the cut, and was confident when he looked to go down the track. He minimised the shots on the up, but brought up his century off the last ball of PBKS’ innings to seal the chase as well as bringing up his century.
Punjab Kings have found their place back in the top-four. But whether their campaign will last any longer will be decided in less than 24 hours. If Rajasthan Royals beat Mumbai Indians, PBKS will be out of the tournament. The same is possible if KKR beat DC by at least 77 runs or chase down the target in 12.1 overs or fewer (assuming the first innings score is 200).
Lucknow Super Giants, on the other hand, have won just four matches and are likely to finish at the bottom, unless MI lose their game by a big margin and take the 10th spot because of an inferior NRR. Meanwhile, with PBKS’ victory, Delhi Capitals are now out of contention for the playoffs.
SCORECARD: Lucknow Super Giants 196/6 in 20 overs (Josh Inglis 72 [44], Ayush Badoni 43 [18]; Yuzvendra Chahal 2-27, Marco Jansen 2-33) lost to Punjab Kings 200/3 in 18 overs (Shreyas Iyer 101* [51], Prabhsimran Singh 69 [39]; Mohammed Shami 2-45, Arjun Tendulkar 1-36) by 7 wickets