Captain KL Rahul smashed his first fifty of this IPL season, but Punjab Kings roared back with timely wickets to restrict his side Lucknow Super Kings to a modest 159 for eight in Lucknow on Saturday. (More Cricket News) | (Scorecard)
൲On a two-paced wicket, Rahul displayed great composure and skills en route his 56-ball 74 as he added 53 and 48 runs with Kyle Mayers (29) and Krunal Pandya (18) for the first and third wickets respectively.
𒁃The 30-year-old from Bangalore also became the fastest batter to reach to 4000 runs in the IPL, achieving the feat in his 105th innings, surpassing West Indies' Chris Gayle (112 innings).
🔥However, LSG couldn't finish things with a flourish as they lost four wickets for 48 runs in the last five overs.
🥂Invited to bat, Rahul and Mayers provided LSG a flying start with the burly left-handed West Indian being the aggressor initially.
ꦉWhile Rahul dealt in boundaries, scoring three fours, Mayers dealt in maximums.
♔Mayers blasted Mathew Short over deep backward square leg and followed it up with a backward punch for another six over covers off Sam Curran.
🤡South African pacer Kagiso Rabada was then deposited into the stands with ease as LSG raced away to 40 for no loss in the powerplay.
ꦯWith the pitch offering a bit of grip and turn, Sam Curran, who led PBKS in place of an injured Shikhar Dhawan, brought in the spinners.
ꦗLeft-arm tweaker Harpreet Brar soon removed the dangerous-looking Mayers, who was holed out to deep backward square leg in the eighth over, while Sikandar Raza trapped Deepak Hooda (2) as LSG slipped to 62 for 2.
💎Rahul then combined with Pandya to take LSG past the 100-mark before Rabada returned to dismiss the latter in the 15th over.
♛Two balls later, the star of the last match Nicholas Pooran too fell while looking for a big hit with Shahrukh Khan taking the catch.
🐠Marcus Stoinis, however, got going from the start, slamming Rahul Chahar for back-to-back sixes, while Rahul then cut Rabada for a maximum over deep point as LSG reached 138 for 4 in 17 overs.
༺However, the hosts didn't get the final push as Curran earned the wicket of Stoinis after winning a video referral following a faint nick off the batter's gloves.
💞Arshdeep Singh then struck with his knuckle ball, removing Rahul, who was holed out at long-on, while Shahrukh Khan once again picked up a well-judged catch to get rid of Yudhvir Singh.
