LSG vs PBKS, IPL 2023: Sikandar Raza, Sam Curran Shine As Punjab Kings Beat Lucknow Super Giants By 2 Wickets
NDTV
Sikandar Raza slammed his maiden IPL fifty after an impressive show by his side's bowling unit as Punjab Kings beat Lucknow Super Giants by two wickets in a last-over finish on Saturday.
Sikandar Raza slammed his maiden IPL fifty after an impressive show by his side's bowling unit as Punjab Kings beat Lucknow Super Giants by two wickets in a last-over finish on Saturday. Invited to bat, captain KL Rahul smashed his first fifty of this IPL season but Punjab Kings roared back with timely wickets to restrict the Lucknow side to a modest 159 for eight. Chasing 160 for a win, Zimbabwean Raza, who also picked a wicket with his spin bowling, cracked a 41-ball 57 to keep PBKS in the hunt after Matthew Short's 22-ball 34. Once he was holed out in the 18th over off Ravi Bishnoi, Shahrukh Khan (23 not out) completed the job, knocking off the final runs with a boundary. Raza hit four boundaries and three sixes in his match-winning knock.
On a two-paced wicket, KL Rahul displayed great composure 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.
However, LSG couldn't finish things with a flourish as they lost four wickets for 48 runs in the last five overs, with Sam Curran picking up three of those.
Kagiso Rabada (2/34), Arshdeep Singh (1/22), Harpreet Brar (1/10) and Sikandar Raza (1/19) were also among wickets.
Defending the total, pacer Yudhvir Singh made a sensational debut, dismissing fellow debutant Atharva Taide (0) and Prabhsimran Singh (4) -- who replaced Rahul Chahar as impact sub -- in his first two overs to reduce PBKS to 17 for 2.
