IPL 2023 Live Report - Lucknow Super Giants vs Punjab Kings, Lucknow

The innings began with a swat off Wood for six.

Ends in a blaze of glory as he wallops a Bishnoi length ball to the long-off fence.

With seven needed off six, he muscles two deliveries into the leg side to pick up two twos. And then with victory a hair's breadth away, he hit a winning boundary to help deliver a third win for the Kings.

Don't also forget Harpreet Brar's crucial boundary off Wood in the penultimate over, right Shahrukh's top-edge flew for six.

For the Kings, the performance is even more timely, not least because they didn’t have the experience of Shikhar Dhawan to bank on as he sat out due to a shoulder niggle. There was also the matter of trying to arrest a slide after losing two games on the bounce, which have done by getting home in a tightrope finish for their third win in five matches.

What drama.

Raza's fifty is followed by a wicket next ball as Rahul plucks a stunner to send back Jitesh Sharma.

Then, Shahrukh comes and swats Mark Wood first ball for six over long-on to breathe some more energy.

Raza then survives a close run-out shout, where the third umpire has one less frame to look at because the fielder was blocking the camera's line of sight. Then there's a vociferous caught-behind appeal off Shahrukh that goes Kings way, before there's another twist.

Raza, who has lifted this chase to where it is, slog sweeps to the longest rope to find Marcus Stoinis off Ravi Bishnoi.

The equation is down to 20 off 12. Drama, drama.

Wood's pace, hard lengths at one end. Bishnoi's wrong's at the other?

Sikandar Raza’s maiden IPL call at 36 was a reward for putting in compelling performances with both bat and ball at the T20 World Cup last year. But for three games at IPL 2023, that rich form seemed to elude him. The delayed arrival and a subsequent niggle to Liam Livingstone meant he had a fourth opportunity to impress. And so far, he hasn't miss a beat. Brings up a 34-ball half-century, but the job ain't done yet. Kings need 38 off 26.

Each of the boundaries in the over an absolute tease for Yudhvir Charak at deep midwicket. He nearly pulled the first one back by trying to tip the ball back in, only to palm it further. Then he tried to leap high to throw the ball back in, only to miss. The third was a sprint to his left to try and intercept the ball, only to miss. It's the most expensive over of the innings. Kings need 61 of 42.

LSG are yet to summon their trump card Ravi Bishnoi. What have they held him back for? Even if he does come into the game now, he's not going to be able to boil out.

He was handed a lifeline on a platter when K Gowtham, who had enough time to line his throw and shoot, missed a direct hit at the bowler's end. But Harpreet managed to add just six more to his 16 then, holing out soon after to deep backward square leg with Kings needing 85 off 48.

The six was walloped off Gowtham only for him to strike back. Short's attempted slap over the infield finds mid-off.

The 221 T20 caps between Atharva Taide, Prabhsimran Singh, Matthew Short and Harpreet Singh coming into this match is the least experienced top four in the IPL since the 219 caps between Kusal Perera, Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Dravid and Stuart Binny for Rajasthan Royals against Delhi Daredevils in 2013.

Yudhvir Singh Charak's journey to the IPL has seen a fair few highs and lows. Highs like being picked up by Mumbai Indians and being one of their most-impressive pacers in club tournaments that they conduct during the off-season. Lows like not being considered good enough to make J&K's senior squad despite impressing in age-group cricket.

After this roaring IPL start, it's unlikely that will be the case anymore. He's given the ball ahead of the more-experienced Avesh Khan and he responds in style.

In his very first over, he removes fellow debutant Atharva Taide. Twice in two balls, Taide was hustled for pace. Off the third, he tries to play a release shot but ends up top-edging a pull to third man.

Off the second ball of his next over, he flattens Prabhsimran Singh's off-stump with a superb nip-backer that hits the perfect seam. Prabhsimran played down the wrong line in hitting it on the up.

Kings 18/2 in the third.

Rahul held his own, but LSG kept losing wickets every time he looked to tee off. Eventually, he was out for 74 in the penultimate over. LSG lost 5 for 48 in the final five overs, with Sam Curran picking up three of those. Shahrukh runs his hand through the grass to the TV cameras to highlight the kind of dew there is, so you reckon a target of 160 means its advantage Kings at the halfway mark.

Sampath Bandarupalli, our stats wiz, has a lovely little nugget: Sam Curran's 3/31 are the best bowling figures on IPL captaincy debut. The previous best were 2/21 by Sourav Ganguly vs RCB in the first-ever IPL game in 2008.

One can debate if this is a smart move.

Kyle Mayers can bowl useful seam-ups; he's even opened the bowling for LSG. So, ould they have tried to have him in and sub out someone else? Like Deepak Hooda, who can bowl too, but has barely been called upon to do so this season. Or they could have perhaps had KL Rahul keep wickets in place of Nicholas Pooran; it's not a role Rahul is averse too.

Gowtham's Impact is of course expected to be with the ball, but with the bat, he's managed all of 1 run before being caught in the boundary looking for a big hit.

Rabada's hit-the-deck delivery gets Pooran dragging one to deep midwicket one ball after DRS gave him a clean chit off a caught behind appeal. The ball was perilously close to the glove as Kings attempted a leg side strangle, but replays confirmed a flat line.

Two balls earlier, Rabada had Krunal caught in the deep as an attempted pull had more height than distance. But the beauty of the catch lay in Shahrukh's calmness as he took the catch, lobbed the ball in the air as he stepped outside the ropes and then sauntered back in to pocket the catch.

Those two strikes in an excellent third over have put the brakes on LSG as the death overs loom.

Gets there off 40 deliveries.

Sails through the 40s with two biffs. A flat-bat over mid-on off Arshdeep and a ramrod-straight hit downtown off Rahul Chahar the highlights.

There's a hint of grip and turn. So far, Rahul has resisted going big, but has the platform now to tee off going into the last seven overs.

105 innings - KL Rahul
112 innings - Chris Gayle
114 innings - David Warner
128 innings - Virat Kohli
131 innings - AB de Villiers

Mayers picks out the lone man at deep square. He could've hit that half-tracker wherever he wished, and he'll be mighty disappointed at missing out.

Hot on the heels of Mayers' dismissal, Kings have Deepak Hooda. Sikandar Raza got one to skid through, Hooda rocked back to pull but missed it completely and was a dead duck.

Not for the first time in the IPL, Rahul has dropped anchor and is on a 30 off 26 at the strategy break. LSG 62/2 in the ninth.

Kyle Mayers is on song.

Sam Curran thinks he's outfoxed Mayers by digging a cutter into the pitch. Mayers goes one better as he makes room and lofts a perfectly acceptable length ball over cover point.

Then as if to show there's more to his game, he brings out a stunning pull shot to Kagiso Rabada's short ball aimed at the ribcage. Mayers picks length early, clears his front leg and wallops this deep into the stands at square leg.

Those two shots have got him going even as Rahul finds his feet. LSG 42/0 in five.

It's got a greenish tinge, but with a lot of bare patches in between.

We've seen Arshdeep Singh get the ball to zip across with good bounce and carry. One delivery from Matt Short turned quite a bit. Kagiso Rabada got a length delivery to rear up awkwardly to rap KL Rahul on the gloves. And how does he respond? With a stunning lofted inside-out hit over extra cover for six.

So it's all happening. LSG 24/0 in three.

Harpreet Singh Bhatia last played in the IPL in 2012.

A member of India's Under-19 World Cup team of 2010, a squad that had the likes of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Mandeep Singh & Jaydev Unadkat among others, Harpreet made a name as a steady top order bat for Madhya Pradesh, but lack of opportunities and form issues had him looking for newer avenues. When Chhattisgarh got BCCI affiliation in 2016, he made the switch and it's a side he has captained for much of their existence.

Bhatia could've got an IPL gig in 2017, but missed out due to an identity gaffe. He was mistaken for Harmeet Singh, the left-arm spinner, and found no bids. He's back now after 10 years and 332 days. This is now the longest gap between two appearances in the IPL. The previous record was Matthew Wade's 10 years and 312 days (2011 to 2022).

"Dhawan's absence [due to a "niggle"] a huge loss," says Curran, but hopes his youngsters can stand up. KL Rahul's happy batting first. His mantra: do whatever you're asked to do well and everything else will take care of itself.

Kings have made a couple of changes.

Young Vidarbha batter Atharva Taide debuts, Harpreet Bhatia, who captains Chhattisgarh in domestic cricket, gets an IPL game after 11 long years. Dhawan and Bhanuka Rajapaksa aren't in the XI. It's likely Prabhsimran Singh will come in as the Impact Player.

Punjab Kings XI: Atharva Taide, Harpreet Bhatia, Matthew Short, Sikandar Raza, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran (c), Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh

Super Giants hand a debut cap to Jammu & Kashmir allrounder Yudhvir Singh Charak. Jaydev Unadkat and Avesh Khan aren't in the XI but have been named among the subs. Likely one of them will come in later in the piece.

Lucknow Super Giants XI: KL Rahul (c), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Ayush Badoni, Mark Wood, Avesh Khan, Yudhvir Singh, Ravi Bishnoi

There's a reason why the Punjab Kings are banking big on Liam Livingstone.

He had the third-highest impact among all players in IPL 2022. Only Jos Buttler & Andre Russell scored more than Livingstone's 730.27 points for his 437 runs and six wickets. But his return is likely to be delayed further.

Having just arrived following a recovery from knee and ankle injuries, Shikhar Dhawan suggested on Thursday night that he had pulled a muscle in his first training session. He appears unlikely to feature tonight, but could come into contention to play against RCB next week.

There is also a chance Kings will consider rotating their seamers, playing their second game in 48 hours. If so, there is a possibility Kagiso Rabada - who was expensive against Gujarat Titans - might make way for Nathan Ellis again. Let's see

KL Rahul captaining. Andy Flower in the coaching staff. Deepak Hooda and Nicholas Pooran in the middle order. K Gowtham and Ravi Bishnoi bowling spin. There are several similarities between Punjab Kings' class of 2020 and Lucknow Super Giants' 2023 vintage.

Several of those former Kings players will be particularly keen to perform against their old franchise, but none more so than Pooran. He had a miserable final year for Kings in 2021, making 85 runs at 7.72 across the season, and was released ahead of the mega auction.

Since then, Pooran has averaged 40.63 and struck at 161.95 in the IPL, bringing his Sunrisers Hyderabad form from 2022 into the early stages of this season. Super Giants invested heavily in him, spending INR 16 crore to buy him in December's auction; the early signs are that he is worth the money.