IPL 2024: Lucknow Super Giants vs Punjab Kings, 11th Match
With his sheer speed, rookie Mayank Yadav stole the show on a night when the hitters did much of the heavy lifting. The 21-year-old turned back the clock on Punjab just as they were about to take the victory, taking three vital wickets from Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, and Jitesh Sharma to enable the home team to win by 21 runs. In the match, he bowled at a speed of above 155 kmph, making history as the second fastest Indian person ever.
Quinton de Kock, who batted first, and KL Rahul, who completed his 21st half-century in the tournament, gave Lucknow a flying start. Nicholas Pooran later produced some outstanding cricket, hitting 42 runs off of 21 deliveries. In the last over, Krunal Pandya hit 43 runs off 22 deliveries, helping Lucknow score 199 runs in the opening half.
Jonny Bairstow and Shikhar Dhawan gave the side a fantastic start in the pursuit. Together, they cobbled together a partnership of 102 runs, which for the most part kept Punjab in the hunt. But, when Mayank was brought in, everything completely altered as he cleared out PBKS’s upper hierarchy. After that, things started to get complex because PBKS ultimately failed.
1. The Lucknow Super Giants batting unit has several positives.
Receiving some runs is a huge plus for LSG because Quinton de Kock, a South African international, was having form issues. After that, Pooran and Pandya played some incredible cricket, and LSG ultimately finished quite strongly. With 199 runs in the end, they proved to be sufficient for the squad.
2. The middle order of PBKS is where?
Although PBKS got off to a great start thanks to Dhawan and Bairstow, the middle order once again fell short. For quite some time, Punjab has followed this model, and if it doesn’t alter, PBKS will have difficulties going forward in the competition.
3. Speed is what matters!
Mohsin Khan of Lucknow won over the fans in 2022, while Mayank Yadav is most likely to do so in 2024. It’s encouraging for Lucknow and Indian cricket that the young player was routinely hitting 150 kmph. In addition to taking three wickets on his debut, he was named Player of the Match.
Also read: IPL 2024: Who is Mayank Yadav?
Losing skipper Shikhar Dhawan said:
They played well, pity that Livi (Livingstone) got injured, that hurt us, he would have come at 4. We started off well, but Mayank bowled well with his pace. It was nice facing him, I was surprised at his pace, but I wanted to use his pace against him, but he bowled the bouncers and the yorkers well.
I was quite mindful, asked the batters to use the short side and use his pace, but he bowled into his body (on Bairstow’s dismissal) and got him OUT, I said the same to Jitesh as well. But Mohsin bowled really well, he kept a good length and suffocated us. We will have to analyse these defeats, the drop catch did cost us some momentum. That’s something we’ll have to improve going forward.
Winning skipper Nicholas Pooran said:
Wonderful start, nice to win in front of the home crowd. We had conversation, spoke about getting good starts. Spoke about getting the right combinations. It was a good total. It’s a big venue, one side is big, one side short. It’s about getting wickets and getting boundaries. It’s only going to get challenging. Shikhar and Bairstow played well. They didn’t take the game away from us as we got wickets at the right time.
That was an inspiring performance, he (Mayank Yadav) is a young guy. He showed the entire worled how good he is. He is not only fast, but is accurate. It’s the beuty of the IPL, gives the local players to perform. Wonderful platform. Every game is an opportunity, expect them to get better. The groundsmen have contributed, as a batsman you can’t ask for anything more.
POTM Mayank Yadav said:
Never thought it would be such a good debut. Was nervous before the match. Tried to stick to my pace and aim at the stumps. Was thinking about using slower ones initially, but stuck to the quick ones. First wicket was special. It’s good to debut at such a young age. Had a few goals, but can’t help if injuries come in the way.