Raza, Curran lead Punjab Kings to 2-wickets victory over LSG in Tata IPL 2023

Playing the second IPL match at the home ground in Lucknow, KL Rahul-led LSG was asked to bat first by Punjab Kings’ stand-in captain Sam Curran.

Opening first for LSG, he made it appear that it was his day and he will do whatever he can put a fascinating score on the scoreboard. Along with Kyle Mayers 29(23), Rahul gave the team a good start. He scored 74 runs in 56 balls with 8 fours and 1 six. Apart from the opening pair, the whole team collapsed once KL Rahul marched to pavilion.

However, Krunal Pandya 18(17) and Marcus Stoinis 15(11) did try to settle their foot on the ground, but had to walk away soon. By the time 20 overs completed, LSG had scored 159 runs after losing 8 wickets.

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For the Punjab Kings, stand-in skipper Sam Curran took 3 wickets, Kagiso Rabada picked 2, while Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, and Sikandar Raza clinched one each.

Chasing 160 runs, both the PBKS openers Atharva Taide and Prabhsimran Singh disappointed and were out within three overs as Yudhvir Singh departed both Taide and Singh.

Then came Matthew Short 34(22) and Harpreet Singh 22(22) to bat and controlled the innings for sometime. But then Krishnappa Gowtham got his wicket as Short chips it straight to mid off where Stionis was placed.

Following this, PBKS sent Sikandar Raza to bat who scored 57 runs in 41 balls. Though from other sides wickets continued to fall, but Raza kept the momentum of the game going and completed his half century.

In the meantime, Krunal Pandya took the wicket of set batsman Harpreet Singh 22(22), after which skipper Sam Curran too had to walk back to the pavilion. Jitesh Sharma followed the footsteps of Sam Curran and walked to the pavilion. Then came the Mohd Shahrukh Khan who scored 23 runs in 10 balls and led the team to victory. 

For LSG, Yudhvir Singh, Mark Wood and Ravi Bishnoi took 2 wickets each, while Krishnappa Gowtham and Krunal Pandya clinched one each.