 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Liam Livingstone did justice to his price tag of Rs 11.5 crore ($1.53 million/Rs 115 million) by putting up an all-round display for the Punjab Kings against defending champions Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2022 at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, April 3, 2022.
With batting figures of 60 off a mere 32 balls at a strike rate of 187.50, he dominated the first innings in an exhibition of stroke play that was highlighted by five sixes and five fours. In the process, he also registered his highest total in the IPL, his previous best being 44 off 26 balls as a Rajasthan Royals player in 2019.
The Englishman capped it off by contributing with bowling figures of 2/25 and took two crucial catches -- the second being CSK's final wicket that fittingly won the match for Punjab.
What made Livingstone's innings all the more impressive was that it came off the back of a disastrous start for Punjab, having lost two of their top batters within the first two overs and with the team struggling at 14-2 with Mayank Agarwal and Bhanuka Rajapaksa's dismissals.
Livingstone and Shikhar Dhawan (33 off 24 balls) added 95 for the third wicket in just 8.4 overs and it seemed that another 200 plus total was on the cards.
Left-arm swing bowler Mukesh Choudhary bore the brunt of Livingstone's aggression, conceding 34 runs from the 12 balls delivered to the Lancastrian -- his third over alone costing 26. Along the way, Livingstone also hit some of the longest sixes recorded in this IPL season.
By the time Dhawan was fooled by a Dwayne Bravo slower one, Punjab had laid the platform, scoring 109 in the first 10 overs, but which the later batters couldn't capitalise on. Livingstone was dismissed shortly after and Punjab bundled through the final overs to register a respectable 180 at the end of its 20 overs.