‘Amazing batting and bowling depth’: Twitter lauds Lucknow’s all-round performance against Punjab

 ‘Amazing batting and bowling depth’: Twitter lauds Lucknow’s all-round performance against Punjab

Lucknow (Image Source : BCCI/IPL)

Punjab and Lucknow faced off in the 42nd match of the Indian T20 League 2022 at the MCA Stadium in Pune. The venue has provided some of the most sporty wickets in the tournament and this match was no exception. A total of 286 runs were scored in the match and 16 wickets fell.

Punjab won the toss and as per the norms of the tournament decided to field first. Lucknow’s start was rocked by the loss of their most important batter KL Rahul (6 of 11) in the third over of the innings. Quinton de Kock and Deepak Hooda (34 of 28) got together at this stage and laid a strong foundation for the team with an 85 runs partnership. The second wicket of the innings fell in the form of Quinton de Kock (46 of 37) in the 13th over. Lucknow’s score at this stage was 98 for two. The men in blue were looking set for a big total. But they experienced a collapse losing 5 wickets for 13 runs. By the 18th over of the innings, Lucknow was seven down for 126 runs.

The middle order failed to capitalize on the foundation laid earlier. What could have been a 180-plus total ended at 153 for 8 in 20 overs. Cameos from Dushmantha Chameera (17 of 10) and Mohsin Khan (13 off 6) took them to a respectable total. Kagiso Rabada was the pick of the bowlers for Punjab. He picked up four wickets for 38 runs from his four overs.

In pursuit of a moderate total Punjab started in an ideal way. The openers gave them a good start before Mayank Agarwal (25 of 17) was dismissed in the fifth over. Shikhar Dhawan (5 of 15)  soon followed in the seventh over of the innings. The chase started to fall apart for the men in red as they failed to form any formidable partnerships. Bhanuka Rajapaksa (9 of 7) and Liam Livingstone (18 of 16) did not last long in the middle and Punjab was down to 88 for four in the thirteenth over of the innings. Jonny Bairstow, however, was batting on steadily. Punjab needed a special effort from Bairstow to win the match. As the 15th over of the innings culminated Punjab was stationed at 103 runs for the loss of five wickets. The required 51 runs of the last 30 deliveries and their only glimmer of hope was Bairstow.

But at the beginning of the 16th over Dushmantha Chameera picked up the all important wicket of Bairstow and put Lucknow in the driver’s seat. Bairstow scored 32 runs from 28 deliveries hitting five fours during his stay. The rest of the equation proved too much for the rest of the Punjab batting line up. They finished with a score of 133   losing the match 20 by runs. Mohsin Khan was the best bowler for Lucknow picking up three wickets conceding 24 runs of his four overs, while Krunal Pandya also did a more than decent job picking two wickets for 11 runs from his four overs.  This was Punjab’s fifth defeat in nine matches, while Lucknow picked up their sixth win in 9 matches.

This is how Twitter responded during the match.

https://twitter.com/Sportskeeda/status/1520068975870484480?s=20&t=GAudVswTA9qGwdSxeOOmgA

https://twitter.com/ReemaMalhotra8/status/1520098505804632065?s=20&t=GAudVswTA9qGwdSxeOOmgA

 

Steven

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