Puno, April 29: Punjab’s ultra-aggressive and hard-hitting batting line-up flattered to cheat once again to fall to a 20-run loss at the hands of Lucknow Super Giants at MCA Stadium here on Friday.
After Kagiso Rabada’s 4/38 restricted Lucknow to 153/8 on a sticky pitch, Punjab lost their way after captain Mayank Agarwal went down on a power play and Liam Livingstone was sacked in mid-overs. , eventually going 133/8 in his 20 overs.
Tall left-arm pacer Mohsin Khan took three wickets for 24 runs, keeping Punjab on the defensive while Krunal Pandya was miserly on his 2/11 spell. Dushmantha Chameera (2/17) and Ravi Bishnoi (1/41) provided strong support for Lucknow to execute an excellent defense of 153.
After starting off slow, Agarwal responded with two sixes and two fours to go 25-for-18. His two sixes came back and created space to carve offside highs. Agarwal tried to do the same with Chameera, but KL Rahul at half time timed his jump well to make a brilliant save in the fifth over.
Jonny Bairstow hit two fours against Avesh Khan in the power play final as Punjab signed at 46/1. After the power play, Lucknow made a mini comeback through Bishnoi and Pandya. While Shikhar Dhawan was castled by Bishnoi in a slog-sweep attempt, Bhanuka Rajapaksa tried to play for the turn, but got an advantage to aim from Pandya’s left.
Livingstone danced down the court twice to hit Bishnoi with straight sixes in an 18-run over. Just when it looked like Punjab would take the match, Lucknow fought back as Livingstone shuffled over to collect and could only glove behind to keep Mohsin at bay. In the next over, Pandya caught Jitesh Sharma lbw after Lucknow took the check.
Bairstow fought a lonely battle at bat, drawing two fours from Bishnoi. But Chameera delivered the knockout blow, forcing Bairstow to execute a full, wide shot and outplay the third man. Mohsin came back on his endgame to eliminate Kagiso Rabada and Rahul Chahar. Although Rishi Dhawan slammed the limits of Avesh Khan in the final, it was not enough to deny Lucknow a well-deserved victory.
Brief scores: Lucknow Super Giants 153/8 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 46, Deepak Hooda 34; Kagiso Rabada 4/38, Rahul Chahar 2/30) beat Punjab Kings 133/8 in 20 overs (Jonny Bairstow 32, Mayank Agarwal 25; Mohsin Khan 3/24, Krunal Pandya 2/11) for 20 runs