After restricting Lucknow Super Giants to 171 for 7 on a tricky Ekana surface in Lucknow, Punjab Kings chased down the target with ease, in 16.2 overs losing just two wickets, on Tuesday, April 1 2025.
Arshdeep Singh, who grabbed three wickets for 43, was the pick of the Punjab bowlers. Four other bowlers -- Lockie Ferguson, Glenn Maxwell, Marco Jansen and Yuzvendra Chahal -- picked up a wicket each for Punjab.
It was a day of disappointment for LSG bowlers as only leg-spinner Digvesh Singh Rathi had wickets under his name, picking two for 30 in his quota of four overs.
Arshdeep Singh
Opening the bowling for PBKS, Arshdeep Singh struck with his fourth ball, scalping the in-form Mitchell Marsh who departed without bothering the scorers. He banged in a hard length ball that seamed away from the leg stump, Marsh attempted to tuck it across but could not handle the away movement.
The Aussie ended up getting a leading edge and Marco Jansen ran in from short third and calmly took the catch.
Arshdeep maintained extremely tight lines and lengths, giving no room for LSG batters to free their arms.
Although Abdul Samad hit him for three boundaries and a six in his third over, Arshdeep came back strongly in the final over of the innings.
He outfoxed Ayush Badoni with a short ball, luring him to go for a pull. He miscued it towards deep mid wicket where Maxwell took a safe catch, moving to his left.
Two ball later, he sent back Samad with a full and wide delivery outside off. Samad threw his hands at it but managed to get only an outside edge that went straight to the fielder at short third man.
Arshdeep conceded just seven runs off the 20th over, including two wides and a bye.
Digvesh Singh Rathi
The 25 year old leg-spinner was the only bright spot in the LSG bowling line-up as Punjab batters put on a dominant display, chasing down the target in just 16.2 overs.
Bought by LSG at the mega auction at his base price of Rs 30 lakh (Rs 3 million), Rathi used a mix of slower balls and quicker deliveries to disrupt the Punjab batters' rhythm and timing.
Brought into the attack in the third over, he repaid the captain's faith by removing Punjab opener Priyansh Arya. He bowled a short delivery outside off, Priyansh attempted a pull but ended up top edging, offering an easy catch to Shardul Thakur at mid on. He celebrated the dismissal by giving a 'send-off' gesture to Priyansh, which earned him a warning from the umpire.
In his third over, he sent back Prabhsimran Singh. The latter went for a slog sweep off a flat length ball but the ball went up high in the air. Ayush Badoni and Ravi Bishnoi combined to take a brilliant catch at the boundary. In his four overs, he gave away 30 runs and was the only LSG bowler with an economy rate under 8.
Marco Jansen
Using his height to good use, Jansen generated extra bounce and made it difficult for LSG batters.
Introduced into the attack in the sixth over, he was right on the money, giving away just three runs in his first over. On a surface with variable bounce, he operated with precision, bowling as many as eight dot balls.
The lanky pacer got rid of the hard-hitting David Miller in his third over. He sent in a length ball outside off stump which bounced awkwardly, and Miller, trying to punch it from within the crease, ended up edging it to the 'keeper.
Jansen finished the game with an impressive economy of 7.
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Photographs: BCCI
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