In the inaugural home match at Ekana Stadium, Lucknow Super Giants, led by stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran, won the toss and opted to bat first. Opening duo KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock aimed to set a strong foundation, but Rahul’s brief cameo of 15 runs off nine balls ended early in the fourth over.
Despite early setbacks with Devdutt Padikkal departing in the sixth over, de Kock and Marcus Stoinis managed to stabilize the innings, guiding LSG to 54/2 by the end of the powerplay. Stoinis departed in the ninth over after contributing two sixes, but de Kock and Pooran accelerated the scoring, pushing LSG to an impressive 88/3 after 10 overs.
De Kock reached his 21st IPL fifty off 34 balls before being dismissed in the following over. With Pooran still at the crease, LSG aimed for a total beyond 180. Ayush Badoni joined Pooran, and their partnership took LSG to 146/4 by the 15th over. However, Pooran’s dismissal in the 16th over, despite his quickfire innings at a strike rate of 200, slowed down LSG’s momentum.
Facing stiff bowling in the slog overs, LSG lost four more wickets, but Krunal Pandya’s aggressive knock of 43 off 22 balls propelled them to a competitive total of 199/8 in their allotted 20 overs. In response, the Punjab Kings got off to a blazing start with Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow at the helm.
Dhawan scored a rapid 41 off 25 balls, while Bairstow contributed 20 off just 11 deliveries, guiding their team to 61/0 by the end of the powerplay. Dhawan reached his half-century off 30 balls, with the duo propelling Punjab to 98/0 in the first 10 overs.
However, Lucknow’s debutant Mayank Yadav broke the 102-run opening partnership by dismissing Bairstow in the 12th over. Despite Prabhsimaran Singh’s brief cameo of 19 runs off seven balls, Punjab struggled to maintain momentum as Mayank continued to pick wickets, claiming his third victim in Jitesh Sharma.
Mohsin Khan further dented Punjab’s hopes by dismissing Dhawan and Sam Curran, leaving them at 144/5 after 17 overs, with 56 runs needed in the remaining three overs. Pressure mounted on Punjab as they managed only eight runs in the 18th over, leaving them with a daunting task of 48 runs off the final two overs.
𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿 goes 🔥
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 30, 2024
𝟭𝟱𝟱.𝟴 𝗸𝗺𝘀/𝗵𝗿 by Mayank Yadav 🥵
Relishing the raw and exciting pace of the debutant who now has 2️⃣ wickets to his name 🫡#PBKS require 71 from 36 delivers
Watch the match LIVE on @JioCinema and @StarSportsIndia 💻📱#TATAIPL |… pic.twitter.com/rELovBTYMz
Krunal’s exceptional penultimate over, conceding only six runs, virtually sealed Punjab’s fate. Eventually, they fell short at 178/5 in their allotted 20 overs, handing Lucknow Super Giants a 21-run victory and marking Punjab’s second consecutive loss in the tournament.
