LUCKNOW, MARCH 31
Express bowler Mayank Yadav impressed in his Indian Premier League debut by compromising Punjab Kings for Lucknow Super Giants to win by 21 runs on Saturday.
Yadav took three wickets in three overs so Punjab couldn't capitalize on a century opening partnership and was restricted to 178-5. Lucknow put up 199-8.
Quinton de Kock's 54 off 38 balls along with Nicholas Pooran's 42 and Krunal Pandya's unbeaten 43 were the backbone of Lucknow's total.
Yadav didn't play for Lucknow when he was picked by the franchise in 2022 and was ruled out of the last year's league because of a torn hamstring. On Saturday, the 21-year-old Delhi fast bowler troubled batters with his consistently searing pace and clocked 155.8 kph.
In an opening stand of 102 off 70 balls, captain Shikhar Dhawan (72) and Jonny Bairstow (42) gave Punjab a brisk start before Yadav derailed the chase and put the asking run rate beyond them.
He hurried out Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh and Jitesh Sharma in the span of 13 balls.
Medium-pacer Mohsin Khan then dismissed Dhawan and Sam Curran off edges in consecutive balls in the 17th over to end all hope for Punjab.
Earlier, De Kock gave Lucknow blastoff and power-hitters Pooran and Pandya upped the ante in the second half of the innings.
Curran picked up 3-28, but Pooran and Pandya charged against Rahul Chahar (1-42) and Harshal Patel (0-45) to plunder 74 runs in the last seven overs. Pooran smashed three sixes and three fours in his 21-ball knock while Pandya remained unbeaten after striking two sixes and four boundaries.
Lucknow earned its first win in two matches, and Punjab suffered a second loss in three games.
