A disciplined, relentless all-round bowling effort helped the KL Rahul-led Lucknow Supergiants (LSG) successfully defend 153 against the Punjab King (PBKS) and take another step towards the playoffs of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.
Batting first on what turned to be a slow-sluggish surface in Pune, the Lucknow Super Giants got off to a poor start as they lost their in-form skipper KL Rahul (6 off 11 deliveries) cheaply.
Punjab Kings' seam-bowling opening duo of Kagiso Rabada and Arshdeep Singh exploited the early movement on offer to good effect and kept LSG batters quiet during the powerplay.
Rabada, especially, was brilliant with his line and lengths, and it was him who got the big fish in Rahul after he got the latter to nick a fullish length delivery that nipped away enough to force the right-hander to play at it.
With just 16 runs in the first four overs, Quinton de Kock finally broke the shackles by smashing Rabada for consecutive sixes as LSG eventually finished the powerplay at 1/39.
De Kock and Deepak Hooda added 85 runs in 9.5 overs, during which they played some delightful strokes against the likes of Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone and Rahul Chahar.
But, just as the duo were setting LSG for the big finish, they fell in quick succession to trigger a collapse that saw the Supergiants lose five wickets for 13 runs within a span of 18 deliveries.
Hooda ran himself out thanks to a feeble attempt to complete a second run, while Rabada (4/38) sent Krunal Pandya and Ayush Badoni packing in his 3rd over.
Rahul Chahar soon joined the party as he claimed a sensational diving catch off his bowling to dismiss Marcus Stoinis, leaving LSG reeling at 6-111.
However, priceless cameos from Jason Holder (11 off 8), Mohsin Khan (13 off 6) and Dushmantha Chameera, who smoked Rabada for a couple of sixes in the 19th over, ensured that LSG finished at 8-153.
Chasing 154, skipper Mayank Agarwal got his team up and running with a quickfire 25 off 17 deliveries, but as is the case with the right-hander, he didn't stay long enough to make it count.
His innings was cut short by his best mate Rahul, who timed his jump to perfection to claim a beauty after the right-hander had flayed a fullish length delivery from Dushmantha Chameera to mid-off.
To make matters worse for Mayank and PBKS, Shikhar Dhawan never looked in touch and was eventually knocked over for a 15-ball five by Ravi Bishnoi after he missed an attempted ugly hoick across the line.
Punjab kept losing wickets at regular intervals, with Bhanuka Rajapaksa joining the openers soon. Rahul caught the southpaw at short cover-point after he got a leading edge off during an attempt to play for the turn.
With the score reading 3-58 after eight overs, Punjab desperately needed an impactful partnership and Liam Livingstone and Jonny Bairstow looked like they were doing that during their 30-run-stand.
The duo scored 18 of those in one over from Ravi Bishnoi. Livingstone smashed a couple of sixes during his 16-ball 18 but fell to Mohsin after an attempt to play an innocuous scoop resulted in him giving an easy catch to De Kock.
Krunal trapped Jitesh Sharma in front in his final over to cap off a match-winning spell that read: 4-1-11-2.Bairstow (32 off 28 deliveries) survived an LBW call off Bishnoi, and while he smashed the googly bowler for a couple of boundaries, Chameera got rid of him in the 16th over.
Bairstow's wicket proved to be the final nail in the coffin as LSG bowlers-led by Mohsin Khan (3/24) successfully closed off the game to claim two more valuable points.
Brief Score:
Lucknow Supergiants- 153/8 (20)
Quinton de Kock 46 (37), Deepak Hooda 34 (28);
Kagiso Rabada 4/38 (4), Rahul Chahar 2/30 (4)
Punjab Kings - 133/8 (20)
Jonny Bairstow 32 (28), Mayank Agarwal 25 (17) ;
Moshin Khan 3/24 (4), Krunal Pandya 2/11 (4)
Match Result- Lucknow Super Giants won by 20 runs