Opener Prabhsimran Singh followed up a disciplined bowling performance from Punjab Kings with a blazing fifty to help his team outclass Lucknow Super Giants in an IPL 2025 match here at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Prabhsimran’s early blitz ensured the Kings could trot to a comfortable win as they scaled LSG’s 172-run target inside the 17th over with eight wickets still in hand.
The wicket-keeper batter kicked things off by taking down LSG’s pacers. While Shardul Thakur was driven through covers and slashed over point, Avesh Khan was dispatched over extra cover with a shot mirroring a tennis forehand.
Prabhsimran revelled even better against LSG spinners, employing a battery of sweeps, reverse sweeps and scoops to garner boundaries.
The 24-year-old touched fifty off his 23rd ball and was threatening to wipe off the chase on his own before he was caught at the fence following an acrobatic relay catch involving Ayush Badoni and Ravi Bishnoi.
Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer marshalled the chase from thereon as he ticked off his second fifty of the season. With Impact Player Nehal Wadhera in company, Shreyas soon secured his side’s second win in as many games.
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Earlier, Shreyas’ choice to bowl first was validated by a restrictive performance by his bowlers.
Arshdeep landed the early blow by sliding the ball in from outside the leg stump to find Mitchell Marsh’s leading edge, which Marco Jansen gobbled up.
Lockie Ferguson struck from the other end by whisking an inswinger past Aiden Markram’s outstretched blade and into the stumps.
Rishabh Pant’s nightmarish start to IPL 2025 continued as he flat-batted a Glenn Maxwell half-tracker straight to short fine leg to fall for just two. The LSG skipper has mustered just 17 runs from three innings in IPL 2025 so far.
Punjab Kings Shreyas Iyer drives Shardul Thakur of Lucknow Super Giants during IPL match at Ekana stadium.
| Photo Credit:
SANDEEP SAXENA/ The Hindu
Punjab Kings Shreyas Iyer drives Shardul Thakur of Lucknow Super Giants during IPL match at Ekana stadium.
| Photo Credit:
SANDEEP SAXENA/ The Hindu
With his top-order colleagues departing early, Orange Cap-holder Nicholas Pooran decided to bide his time, scoring only five runs from his first 11 deliveries.
Pooran soon rose from his slumber with back-to-back leg-side boundaries against Maxwell. The West Indian upped the ante against Yuzvendra Chahal. He began by carving the leg spinner for a couple of boundaries through the off-side before lofting him down the ground for a six.
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Up against Marcus Stoinis’ short length, Pooran accessed the vacant third-man fence to reel in a four and a six.
But, with a third consecutive fifty on the horizon, Pooran was snared by Chahal, who baited the LSG batter with a wide googly. The resultant miscue was pouched by Maxwell at long-on, silencing a boisterous home crowd.
LSG’s recovery came through Badoni and Abdul Samad, but Arshdeep closed out the innings brilliantly, conceding just seven runs in the final over while dismissing both set batters. His effort ensured LSG stayed under 180, capping off a stirring bowling display, which paved the way for a comfortable win.