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*PBKS VS LSG REVIEW*
*DEALT WITH DISDAIN:*
PBKS were not spared today, they were bashed left right and centre and it was an on song slaughter from LSG, that was on full display as they amassed their way to 257, the highest IPL total this year. For a while, even the great 263 courtesy a Gayle special was put under threat. Such was the carnage from the power packed batting order of LSG. It started with Mayers taking a toll of PBKS, racing away to a 20 ball fifty, justifying his selection once again. Badoni, coming in at 3, took from there and impressed with a 43, striking at nearly 180. Post this was the perfect time for Stoinis and Pooran to unleash havoc and they did exactly what was asked of them. Stoinis powered away, smashing 5 maximums in his knock of 72 and the final touches that drove the momentum in Lucknow’s favour once again were provided by the hard hitting Nicholas Pooran. He brought out the destructive version of himself, just as he has been doing all this while, to race away to a 19 ball 45. Once 257 was set on board, the LSG bowlers despite some incredible batting from Punjab had enough in the bank to successful defend this mammoth total.
*PUNJAB FIGHT BUT FAIL TO GET CLOSE:*
Having registered such a massive total on board, it was always going to be an uphill task. Punjab did end up with 201, a good score on a good batting wicket but they were still 56 runs short. To begin with, their skipper returning from an injury was sent packing almost immediately. Next comes Atharva Taide who played a blinder, smashing it around and keeping Punjab in the game. Got to his first IPL fifty and scored briskly. His partnership with Raza with Livingstone still in the dugout was a breathtaking one as the two piled up 66 and 36 runs respectively. In the middle of this, we saw a few cameos from Livingstone, Curran and Jitesh Sharma- all looking to slog and get as close as possible to the total. The batters tried compensating for a disastrous bowling effort, resulting in no gains. As the PBKS batters looked to up the tempo, Naveen Ul Haq and Yash Thakur got amongst the wickets and bagged 3-fer and a 4-fer respectively, contributing to a well rounded and complete win as LSG topped the table with full bragging rights.