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Lucknow Super Giants captain K.L. Rahul will look back at Saturday night’s two-wicket defeat against Punjab Kings in an IPL 2023 match at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow with a curious smile. His 56-ball 74, though the bedrock of his team’s innings, once again raised questions about his status as a vintage car among Ferraris in the format.
But his move to hold back leggie Ravi Bishnoi, on a wicket where the ball gripped and turned, till the 15th over nearly proved to be a masterstroke; what with figures of 2 for 10 after two overs. However, with seven needed from six, Bishnoi stuttered as PBKS rode on Shahrukh Khan’s blockbuster 10-ball 23 and Sikandar Raza’s 41-ball 57 to snap its losing streak.
Bishnoi had accounted for PBKS stand-in captain Sam Curran – Dhawan was out with a niggle – in his first over before getting Raza caught. Bishnoi’s guile was matched by Mark Wood’s hard lengths at express pace but the lack of a flourishing finish while batting cost LSG dearly.
Earlier, with PBKS 82/4 in 12 overs, Raza had breathed life back into a dwindling chase when he took 17 off Krunal Pandya in the 13th over, with two sixes and a four. His riposte ultimately orchestrated PBKS’s third win in five matches.
In the evening, watching LSG openers go about their business in the PowerPlay after being sent into bat was an exercise in deciphering two contrasting T20 batting philosophies. On one hand, Kyle Mayers smacked sixes while on the other, Rahul batted to the rhythms of his slow-burn T20 form. Rahul reached his fifty in 40 balls and, along the way, also became the fastest to 4000 IPL runs (105 innings). Sandwiched in between were the dismissals of Mayers and Deepak Hooda, who fell in successive overs.
With LSG 108 for two in 14 overs, the crowd expected an avalanche of sixes, but Kagiso Rabada’s twin strikes in the 15th over, removing Krunal Pandya and Nicholas Pooran, snuffed out hopes of a fightback.
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