PBKS vs LSG Highlights, IPL 2026: Punjab crush Lucknow by 54 runs, stay unbeaten

That's a wrap - The weekend comes to a close. Hope you all had a lot of fun. But IPL never stops. Monday, 20th April sees the clash between the western neighbours. Gujarat Titans are set to host Mumbai Indians at the gigantic Narendra Modi Stadium of Ahmedabad. The first ball is scheduled to be bowled at 7.30 pm IST (2 pm GMT). But our buildup begins well in advance. Until then, cheers!

A quick recap of the double header - What an entertaining day it was! A proper Sunday treat. The day began at Eden Gardens with Kolkata Knight Riders getting a very narrow win against Rajasthan Royals, their first of the season. They almost botched up an under-par target, but Rinku Singh took them home with a responsible knock. Come the evening game, Punjab Kings again shattered the mathematical possibilities by smashing 254 runs on the back of ruthless ball-hitting and in the defence, they were just as clinical. They look like a team playing on a different stratosphere and maintain their unbeaten run. Lucknow Super Giants were left staring at the ceiling as they have a lot of soul-searching to do in all departments.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH - Priyansh Arya receives the award for his swashbuckling 93 off just 37 balls, at a staggering strike rate of 251.35. On what stood out in his innings, he tells that he was pleased to have continued batting deep after the Powerplay and kept contributing runs for the team. On his six-hitting training, he shares that he does not practice hitting sixes at all. Adds that he focuses purely on timing the ball as well as possible in the nets, and finds that approach pays off more when he gets out to bat.

The captain of the Punjab Kings - Shreyas Iyer says it was exceptional, with some of the shots being jaw-dropping, and adds that it takes a lot of courage and composure. He mentions that hitting fast bowlers off the back foot straight down the ground requires great bravery. He also feels that while things can slip at times, the way that the partnership was built, especially through the middle overs, was sensational. Iyer reveals he was chatting with Cooper Connolly and Priyansh Arya, jokingly asking them to compete for the most sixes, with his bat as the prize. Shreyas says that the team’s mantra is to let players be, trusting them to follow their own patterns without over-instruction. He mentions that Ricky Ponting delivers the motivation before the game, while he plays his part, and the players respond on the field. Iyer also points out that most of their bowlers are experienced, international players. Further says that the team has clear plans against opposition batters, and it ultimately comes down to execution. He stresses the importance of not getting complacent. On making this venue their fortress, he says absolutely. Adds that whenever they come here and look at the wicket, it gives them immense pleasure to be part of this setup. He mentions that last year they had to sit down and rethink their approach for this season, and wanted to prepare a surface that supports both their batters and bowlers.

... Time for the post-match Presentation ...

Up next for a quick interview - PBKS' Vijaykumar Vyshak, on being asked whether he has any premeditated plans while bowling, says that there is a lot of planning from the coaches and video analysis. He credits the people involved in that as well. He acknowledges the last couple of games did not go his way but feels the support from the support staff made all the difference. On his recent form, he says the last two games did not go his way but he drew cues from how Prince bowled and backed yorkers and slower deliveries as his primary weapons. He details that the video analyst specifically flagged that length balls are not a good option on this surface, which is why he went fuller and harder with the yorker. On his mindset, he says his approach stays the same regardless of the situation, whether he bowls one over or four, the goal is simply to win the match for his team.

The skipper of Lucknow Super Giants - Rishabh Pant says his left hand is getting better, but he took a blow on the right elbow, which is something he will need to keep an eye on. Rishabh tells that it is difficult to point out exactly where things went wrong. There are areas of concern, but also positives to take, and as a team, they need to do better. Pant mentions it was a pre-decided plan for Ayush Badoni to open, to allow him to bat freely. He says he believes in this team, and adds that when a team is playing well, like Punjab are, you have to give credit to them.

Mayhem in Mullanpur - Prabhsimran was gone off the third ball, with Shami drawing first blood. That was as good as it got for LSG all night. Priyansh Arya, carrying the rust of a mixed season, chose tonight to shed all of it in one go. Connolly walked in and matched him shot for shot, as the two youngsters fed off each other in a partnership that left the LSG bowlers shellshocked. They added 182 runs in just 80 balls before Arya fell agonisingly short of a hundred. Connolly was not too far behind either, but by then the damage was well and truly done. The carnage did not stop there. Stoinis, Wadhera and Shashank piled on in the back end, squeezing every last run out of a demoralised attack. In an evening where LSG's bowlers were put to the sword one after another, Prince Yadav was the solitary bright spot, finishing with figures of 2/25.

A defensive bowling masterclass - What followed after the restrictions lifted was a masterclass from the Kings' bowlers. On a belter of a pitch, they identified the bigger boundary and built their defensive plan around it. The overs dried up, the boundaries stopped coming, and LSG found themselves stuck in a phase of the game where they needed runs the most and found them the least. The asking rate climbed in silence. That is the cruel arithmetic of a T20 chase. A few quiet overs do not just cost runs, they shoot up the asking rate as well. The likes of Chahal and Vyshak tightened up the screws with cunning variations and were spot on with execution. By the time LSG looked up, the game was already gone. PBKS had pulled so far ahead that they couldn't even see their opponents in the rearview mirror. 

The openers set the base - The order of the day was aggression, and Marsh and Badoni took that brief and ran with it. The two openers put on a positive start, giving LSG the kind of foundation a chase of this magnitude demanded. Badoni was particularly fluent, keeping the scoreboard moving, but he fell on the last ball of the Powerplay, though, with LSG at 61/1, a moment that threatened to take the fizz out of the innings. Pant walked in and played with freedom from the very first ball, with Marsh motoring along well too. At the end of 8 overs, there was very little to separate the two teams, with the Powerplays also cancelling out each other.

Kings rule at home - Another game, another commanding win for Punjab Kings. They are making a habit of it, going past other teams like it's a normal routine. This makes five wins out of six games (one abandoned) for them, and they get to 11 points. The first team to do so and the only side yet to lose a single game this year. The only thing they would look to improve on is their fielding and catching efficiency, which has taken a considerable hit. Problems are rising for the Lucknow Super Giants on the other end. But to be fair to them, they did well in patches to get to 200, but still remained massively short of what they were after. Their bowling came under the scanner this evening, and with good reason. 

19.6: Marco Jansen to Himmat Singh, A convincing 54-run win for the Punjab Kings. Jansen hurls it on a length, outside off. Himmat flat bats it back at the bowler. No time for Jansen to react as he sticks out his left hand. The ball deflects off his hand towards cover for a single.

Last ball coming up. Himmat Singh, LSG's Impact Sub, walks out to face that.

19.5: Marco Jansen to Aiden Markram, OUT! CAUGHT! Finally, PBKS hold onto a catch, and once again, the camera pans to the PBKS dugout, where Ricky Ponting shows no emotion at all. Jansen continues to push it across the right-hander, on a length. Aiden moves across the sticks and looks to launch it down the ground. Skies it towards long off, where Marcus Stoinis settles under it and gets low to take the catch.

19.4: Marco Jansen to Aiden Markram, FOUR! The ball flies in the air as does the bat. On a good length, leaving the right-hander. Aiden Markram flashes and flashes hard at it. Aiden loses grip on the bat and it balloons behind the stumps. The ball flies wide of short third to his right for a boundary.

19.3: Marco Jansen to Mukul Choudhary, PUT DOWN! The drops are spreading quickly across the field. Cross-seam ball, on a length, outside off. Mukul Choudhary swings for the hills by shuffling across. Slices it off the outer half towards short third. Prabhsimran Singh, with the gloves, calls for the catch and moves across to his right. Yuzvendra Chahal is right under it but he moves away to avoid bumping into the keeper. Perhaps that played on the mind of Prabhsimran, who could not hold onto it.

19.2: Marco Jansen to Aiden Markram, Slower and fuller, going away. Aiden swats it to long on and crosses over.

19.1: Marco Jansen to Mukul Choudhary, Across off, on a shortish length, Choudhary pulls it through mid-wicket for a single.

Last over to go. Marco Jansen to wrap things up. 3-0-29-1 so far.

18.6: Xavier Bartlett to Mukul Choudhary, Low full toss, on leg. Mukul Choudhary tonks it using his bottom hand to long on for a single.

18.5: Xavier Bartlett to Mukul Choudhary, Takes pace off and goes into the surface, over middle. Mukul Choudhary does not pick the change of pace and fails to connect on the pull.

18.4: Xavier Bartlett to Mukul Choudhary, IN THE AIR AND DROPPED AGAIN! Is it a doppelganger? No, it's Shashank for the third time. Wherever Shashank is going, the ball is following him, it seems. It's just not been a good outing for him in the field. Shreyas Iyer at long on sees the funny side of it. But the camera pans to the PBKS dugout, with Ponting with a blank face as the head coach just cannot believe it. Short and wide outside off, slower at 114.3 kph. Mukul decides to take it on, fetching it from well outside off and launching it aerially towards deep backward square leg. Shashank Singh comes in from the deep and makes a meal of it once again. The batters cross for two runs.

18.3: Xavier Bartlett to Aiden Markram, Fuller in length and outside off. Aiden Markram laces it down to long off for a single.

18.3: Xavier Bartlett to Aiden Markram, WIDE! Takes all the pace off and digs in a bumper, but it goes over the head of the batter. Markram tries to smoke that with the pull shot but it goes over his angled bat.

18.2: Xavier Bartlett to Aiden Markram, FOUR! Width offered, and Aiden cashes in! Bartlett errs in line and length. High full toss but below the waist, outside off. Markram extends his hands and slaps it through point for four more.

18.1: Xavier Bartlett to Aiden Markram, FOUR! It flies away! Xavier Bartlett misses the yorker and slips a thigh-high full toss, outside off. Aiden Markram flashes hard at it and the ball flies off the outside edge over short third for a four.

Last 2 overs left. PBKS are inches closer to get a massive win. Xavier Bartlett (3-0-41-0) will bowl out.

17.6: Arshdeep Singh to Aiden Markram, Full and on middle. Markam powers it down the ground to long off for one.

17.5: Arshdeep Singh to Aiden Markram, SIX! What happened there? Ricky Ponting in the dugout is not happy one bit. Total misjudgement from Shashank Singh. Second time tonight that Shashank has made an error in the field. Seam-up ball, angling away, full in length. Aiden carves it off the outer half and it is skied to deep cover. Singh gets around to his right but feels that the ball is going to sail over his head. He turns around and watches the ball land on the boundary cushions on the full. A hand of apology straight away from Shashank.

17.4: Arshdeep Singh to Mukul Choudhary, Wide yorker from Singh, Choudhary moves across and slices it to deep point for one.

17.3: Arshdeep Singh to Mukul Choudhary, Just in! Arshdeep pushes it even wider from the right-hander and nearly a yorker. Choudhary reaches out but fails to connect. Mukul feels it should be a wide and takes the review. The replays show that Choudhary had moved across and the tramline moved with him. The ball is within the guideline and it is a fair delivery.

17.2: Arshdeep Singh to Mukul Choudhary, FOUR! Streaky! Leaving the right-hander with the angle, on a length. Mukul Choudhary swings for the hills, but the ball flies off a thickish outside edge over short third for a four.

17.1: Arshdeep Singh to Mukul Choudhary, Bangs it in short, on off. Mukul Choudhary stays leg side to glide it over the keeper but misses.

16.6: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Aiden Markram, What are you appealing for, Vyshak? A comical appeal for LBW from the speedster on a Free Hit. Angled in, on middle and leg, very full, Aiden clears the front leg but is beaten on the inside edge. The ball raps him on the back leg before dribbling to short third.

16.6: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Aiden Markram, NO BALL! Third bouncer of the over. Vyshak dishes out the slower bouncer again, over middle. Markram gets his hands to play the forehand down the line but misses. Vyshak is not happy with the call but PBKS get on with it. Free Hit coming up.

16.5: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Aiden Markram, On a shortish length, over middle. Aiden Markram gets on his toes and goes for the pull but he is through the shot early and fails to connect.

16.4: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Mukul Choudhary, Pace off, on the shorter side, outside off. Mukul drags it to deep square leg for one.

16.3: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Mukul Choudhary, SIX! Clean as a whistle! The helicopter is out. Angled in, on a length, on middle and leg. Mukul Choudhary clears the front leg and brings his bottom hand into play. He mows it over wide long on for a biggie.

16.2: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Mukul Choudhary, On a hard length, around off, Mukul Choudhary arches back and initially looks for the pull but then adjusts to play the upper cut. He fails to connect.

16.1: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Aiden Markram, Low full toss, on off. Aiden drops low and smears it to long on for one.

STRATEGIC BREAK! Punjab Kings, with all the spot-on execution in this middle over phase, will surely believe that this is their game to lose now. LSG kept losing wickets and to be fair to them, the mountain they are chasing just demanded to do that. However, the tinkering with the batting order hasn't worked well for the visitors. But they will still aim to get as close as possible until Markram is there in the middle. With 97 needed off 24 balls, Vijaykumar Vyshak (3-0-21-1) is back on.

15.6: Xavier Bartlett to Aiden Markram, Nails the yorker this time, on middle. Aiden drills it to long on for just a single.

15.5: Xavier Bartlett to Aiden Markram, SIX MORE! A gift and Markram accepts it gleefully. Yorker gone wrong for Xavier Bartlett. It comes out as a thigh-high full toss, angled in, on leg. Aiden picks it up nicely and clubs it over mid-wicket for half a dozen.

15.4: Xavier Bartlett to Aiden Markram, SIX! All the way! On a back of a length, on middle. Markram clears the front leg and stands tall. Whips it flat to the left of deep mid-wicket for a six. LSG need many more of these. Realistically, the target looks far-fetched, so it is more about cutting down the margin of defeat.

15.3: Xavier Bartlett to Mukul Choudhary, Pace off now and the length is dragged back but the line stays near the tramline. Mukul drags it down to long on and crosses over.

15.2: Xavier Bartlett to Aiden Markram, Nice and full, not allowing Markram to get under the ball. Aiden hits it to long off for one more.

15.1: Xavier Bartlett to Mukul Choudhary, Slips in the wide yorker. Mukul Choudhary looks to whip it away helicopter style but jams it out to long off for a single.

14.6: Marco Jansen to Mukul Choudhary, Slow and full, around off. Mukul presses ahead and dabs it wide of point for a single.

14.5: Marco Jansen to Aiden Markram, Fuller length, slower one, outside the off stump. Markram drags it to deep square leg for a single.

14.4: Marco Jansen to Mukul Choudhary, Short and on middle. This is pulled to deep mid-wicket for a run.

14.3: Marco Jansen to Mukul Choudhary, Steep bumper, over middle. Mukul ducks under the projectile.

Nicholas Pooran bites the dust. Another scratchy outing for the Trinidadian. In walks Mukul Choudhary.

14.2: Marco Jansen to Nicholas Pooran, OUT! CAUGHT EASILY! Jansen strikes and Pooran's lean run continues with the bat this season. Fuller, outside off. It is the deceptive knuckle ball from Jansen. Pooran clears his front leg and looks to go big down the ground, but fails to read the variation and mistimes it badly off the toe end. Iyer moves to his right at long on and takes a good running catch. LSG are 139/4, chasing 255.

14.1: Marco Jansen to Aiden Markram, Slants it into the batter, full in length. Aiden Markram clips it to deep square leg for a single.

13.6: Yuzvendra Chahal to Aiden Markram, Slides it on leg, on a length, this is flicked to deep mid-wicket for a run.

13.5: Yuzvendra Chahal to Nicholas Pooran, IN THE AIR AND DROPPED! Geez, that went to the moon and came down. But Shashank has completely misjudged this one. Full in length and a googly on the leg stump. Pooran goes down on a knee for the slog sweep, but tries to hit it too hard as he targets the longer boundary. Gets it high in the air towards Shashank at deep square leg. Shashank stabilises himself but misjudges the trajectory of the ball. Dives to his right at the last second but drops it. A single taken.

13.4: Yuzvendra Chahal to Aiden Markram, Pushed fuller on middle. Aiden tries to smash it straight but gets the connection off the inner half and it rolls to long on for a single.

13.3: Yuzvendra Chahal to Nicholas Pooran, Very full again, on the leg pole. Pooran carves it to the mid-wicket region for a single.

13.2: Yuzvendra Chahal to Nicholas Pooran, Too full and on middle. Pooran squeezes it straight back at the bowler.

13.1: Yuzvendra Chahal to Aiden Markram, Flat and full, skidding through. Markram goes for the pull, but inside edges it to deep square leg for a single.

12.6: Arshdeep Singh to Nicholas Pooran, FOUR! Ramped over! Short and just outside off. Pooran gets underneath it and opens the blade at the last moment. Adjusts to ramp it between the keeper and short third for four runs.

12.5: Arshdeep Singh to Aiden Markram, Nips in from a fuller length, on middle. Markram drills it down to long on for a single.

Arshdeep Singh answers the skipper's call. Aiden Markram walks out to bat. The bat he walks out with does not pass through the gauge, so he will have to change it. The replacement passes the check.

12.4: Arshdeep Singh to Rishabh Pant, OUT! EDGED AND CAUGHT BEHIND! Excellent execution again rewards the bowler. Wide yorker outside off. Pant shuffles across and bends, moving away from the off stump. Opens the face to slice it through third man but gets it off the outside edge and there is a deviation as well. The ball goes flat to the left of the keeper, offering a catching practice for Prabhsimran behind the stumps. Loud appeal and the finger goes up. Pant is unconvinced and calls for the review. UltraEdge shows a clear spike, but Pant walks back to his crease, believing it is the bat hitting the ground and not the outside edge. The third umpire spots the deflection, and the on-field decision stands.

12.3: Arshdeep Singh to Nicholas Pooran, Slightly fuller in length, on leg. Nicholas Pooran clears the front leg, gets down on a knee and whips it aerially and on the bounce between deep square leg and deep mid-wicket. Xavier Bartlett sprints to his left from the latter position and flicks the ball to the other converging fielder from deep square leg before running over the ropes. Saves two for his team.

12.3: Arshdeep Singh to Nicholas Pooran, WIDE! Slips in the full toss down leg, but Pooran misses to whip that away. Wide called.

12.2: Arshdeep Singh to Nicholas Pooran, Full and tailing onto the pads. Nicholas Pooran flicks it to the right of deep square leg for a couple of runs.

12.1: Arshdeep Singh to Rishabh Pant, Full and straight on off, Pant drills it down to long on for a single.

11.6: Yuzvendra Chahal to Nicholas Pooran, A confident shout for LBW! Turned down by the umpire. Prabhsimran Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal are pretty convinced. Shreyas Iyer sends it upstairs. Where has this pitched? This is bowled quicker through the air, full and around leg from over the wicket. Nicholas Pooran gets down on a knee for the slog sweep but misses and gets hit on the crouched back thigh. No bat involved, but the Ball Tracking confirms that the ball has pitched outside the line.

11.5: Yuzvendra Chahal to Rishabh Pant, Full and on leg, that is flicked away through mid wicket for a single.

11.4: Yuzvendra Chahal to Rishabh Pant, SIX! Hand comes off but it sails all the way! Pitched full and on the stumps. Rishabh Pant advances down the track, gets under it and despite the bottom hand losing the grip, he manages to smoke the ball over long on for a six.

11.3: Yuzvendra Chahal to Rishabh Pant, SIX! Nearly a perfect team effort in the deep. Full and flighted, just outside off. Pant drops to a knee and swings hard across the line for the slog sweep. Gets it high but not far enough. Arya charges to his right from deep mid-wicket and takes it near the ropes with his hands stretched forward. Realising that he is about to touch the ropes, he lobs the ball to the converging fielder from long on and Jansen takes it nicely. But the umpires want to have a look at the legality of the catch. The replays show that Arya's foot is grazing the boundary cushion while having the ball in hand. So it will be a six.

Another special effort from PBKS? Not quite. Priyansh Arya's feet are in contact with the boundary cushions when he has the ball in hand.

11.2: Yuzvendra Chahal to Nicholas Pooran, Leg bye! On a good length, turning into the pads. Pooran is beaten on the flick. A leg bye is taken as the ball clips the pads and rolls to square leg.

Yuzvendra Chahal gets his just reward. Nicholas Pooran makes his way out to the middle. 

11.1: Yuzvendra Chahal to Mitchell Marsh, OUT! MISTIMED AND CAUGHT! Chahal fishes out the Bison and gets rewarded for exceptional execution. Chahal invites the batter by flighting the ball at 86.7 kph. Full and pitching outside off. Marsh sits down on a knee and goes for the slog sweep across the line. Gets it off the bottom of the bat. Ends up hitting it flat and straight to his Australian teammate Xavier Bartlett at long on. Marsh has a wry smile as he walks off. Lucknow Super Giants are 109/2, needing 146 more runs.

The physio is out for Rishabh Pant. The magic spray is being applied to the right elbow of the LSG skipper, not the one he took a blow to the other night against RCB. There is going to be a change of ball. Xavier Bartlett walks over to the umpires to check which ball is being picked. Another change of bat for Mitchell Marsh. Will this help Marsh get a move on, because the time is running out for LSG?

10.6: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Rishabh Pant, Excellent wide yorker, outside off. Pant doesn't get the leverage to put his bat under the ball to slam it over cover and misses to connect. Just 12 runs from the last 2 overs for LSG and the asking rate has zoomed up to 16.22.

10.5: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Rishabh Pant, Pushed outside off, on a fuller length. Rishabh Pant tries to smoke the slower one down the ground, but inside edges it and the ball rolls back to Prabhsimran.

10.4: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Mitchell Marsh, A low full toss at pace, on middle. Mitchell Marsh is a bit late on the shot and lofts it off the toe end to long on for a single.

10.3: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Mitchell Marsh, Good deception! Slows it up, does Vyshak, on a length outside off. Mitchell Marsh swings the bat to pull in January, but the ball arrives in December to beat him all ends up.

10.2: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Rishabh Pant, Pushed fuller and on middle and leg. Pant gets low and tries to slog it over deep mid-wicket, but inside edges on the thigh pad as the ball rolls away to the off side for a single.

10.1: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Rishabh Pant, FOUR! Much needed to break free! Slower bumper, at shoulder height. Pant rises up and fetches it from outside off. Drags it wide of mid-wicket for a boundary.

10.1: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Rishabh Pant, WIDE! Short of a good length, down leg. Pant gets inside the line to pull it behind on the leg side, but misses.

Halfway done. Lucknow Super Giants are 102/1, needing 153 runs from 60 balls. The last couple of overs have been quiet, credit to the spot on defensive bowling on a belter of a pitch.

9.6: Yuzvendra Chahal to Rishabh Pant, Only 5 singles from the over. Outstanding work from Chahal. Yuzi tosses it up, on a length. Pant advances but can only nudge it to square leg and pick up a single. Just 13 runs off the last 2 overs.

9.5: Yuzvendra Chahal to Mitchell Marsh, Pushed through from the front of the hand, very full, on leg. Marsh knocks it to long on for one.

9.4: Yuzvendra Chahal to Rishabh Pant, This is slowed down at 76.1 kph, and the length is pulled back. Pant hacks it across the line to deep mid-wicket for another single. 11 balls since the last boundary for LSG.

9.3: Yuzvendra Chahal to Mitchell Marsh, Keeps it away from the batter's arc, on a length, a hint of turn. Marsh reaches out and powers it to deep cover for a run.

9.2: Yuzvendra Chahal to Rishabh Pant, At the toes, on the fuller side. Rishabh wrists it to deep mid-wicket for one.

9.1: Yuzvendra Chahal to Rishabh Pant, Short and on off, that is cut away but straight to the fielder at point.

8.6: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Rishabh Pant, Superb stuff from Vyshak. Mixed his pace, lines and lengths up all over and kept the batters guessing. He goes for just 8 runs and the required run rate has now climbed to 14.36. On the shorter side, on off. Pant shovels it to short fine leg and takes a quick single.

8.5: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Mitchell Marsh, So far, so good from Vyshak. Vijaykumar gets it full enough to deny Marsh the leverage to get under it. Marsh can only hit this along the ground to long off and cross over.

8.4: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Rishabh Pant, This is nice and tight, on top of off, on a back of a length. Rishabh is cramped for room and chops it through point for one.

8.4: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Rishabh Pant, Wide! Going across, slower bouncer, Pant thinks about going after it but then bails out. He watches the ball sail over his head. Wide given for height.

8.3: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Mitchell Marsh, Missed out! Vyshak looks for the yorker but gets it wrong. Marsh swings at it but mishits the low full toss to long off. Just a single.

Change of bat for Marsh. Looks like the previous one took a bad hit on the bottom. He gets it exchanged and is good to continue.

8.2: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Rishabh Pant, On a hard length, on off. Rishabh shimmies and spanks it to the left of long off for one.

8.1: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Mitchell Marsh, Low full toss, on leg, this is driven through mid on for a single.

8.1: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Mitchell Marsh, Wide! Banged in short, slower ball, this is too high and it is left alone for the keeper to collect.

Switch of ends for Vijaykumar Vyshak. 1-0-6-1 so far. He replaces Marco Jansen.

7.6: Yuzvendra Chahal to Mitchell Marsh, Short and on off, Marsh chops it down in front of point and hurries to the other end. The fielder has a shy at the bowling end but misses. It would have been interesting had the throw hit.

7.5: Yuzvendra Chahal to Mitchell Marsh, SIX! Marsh absolutely picked the bones out of it. Chahal offers flight, full and wide on off. Mitchell is made to reach out and he nails the slog sweep. Hits it flat and wide of deep mid-wicket for a six.

7.4: Yuzvendra Chahal to Rishabh Pant, Not in control but safe! Flat and this is shorter, on leg. Pant crouches for the half-pull but he fails to ride the bounce. It balloons off the glove and drops in front of short fine leg. They sneak in a quick single.

7.3: Yuzvendra Chahal to Rishabh Pant, Floated up by Chahal, full and on middle. Rishabh sinks to a knee and shapes up for the slog sweep. He is beaten in the air but goes through with the shot. Hits it between deep mid-wicket and deep square leg for a couple.

7.2: Yuzvendra Chahal to Rishabh Pant, On a length, attacking the front pad. Rishabh plants his front foot across and clips it neatly to the right of deep mid-wicket. He takes the first run hard and completes the second before the throw comes in from the deep.

7.1: Yuzvendra Chahal to Mitchell Marsh, Drops it short, on off, does not rise much. Marsh flat bats it down to long on for a single. Chahal got away with one here, as this was a half-tracker.

7 overs done, and only 1 run separates both teams at the moment. PBKS were 77/1 at the same stage. And here comes Yuzvendra Chahal into the attack, replacing Vijaykumar Vyshak.

6.6: Marco Jansen to Rishabh Pant, Oh, an audacious attempt but it does not come off. Jansen takes pace off and bowls it on a good length, Rishabh hangs low and goes for the reverse but misses.

6.5: Marco Jansen to Rishabh Pant, SIX MORE! This is even bigger! Jansen drags his length back a bit, on middle. A Rishabh Pant special as he charges down the track and goes through the line of the ball. The top hand comes off the bat handle, but it does not matter. Rishabh parks it towards the sight screen for half a dozen more.

6.4: Marco Jansen to Rishabh Pant, SIX! Pant goes big! Jansen hurls a full ball, on the off stump. Rishabh gets the ball right in the slot and he collapses his back knee before pumping it over long on for a six.

6.3: Marco Jansen to Mitchell Marsh, Pace off now, into the surface, outside off. Marsh mistimes the pull and the ball lands safely in the vacant mid-wicket region for one.

6.2: Marco Jansen to Rishabh Pant, Pant is greeted with a bumper. Around the left shoulder, Rishabh swivels nicely and gets his hands high to control the pull down to deep fine leg. Pant is off the mark with a single.

6.1: Marco Jansen to Mitchell Marsh, Jansen steams in from around the wicket and tucks the Aussie up for room with a hard-length delivery. Marsh swings away for the pull and one hand comes off the bat handle. It goes behind square leg for a single.

STRATEGIC BREAK! Disappointment for Badoni, but after playing a breezy knock and giving LSG a positive start in a mountainous run chase. The pitch is a belter, no doubt about that, and Marsh has settled in nicely at the other end. LSG will need him to dig in and go deep from here if they want to take this close. It will be interesting to see how they go about it when the likes of Chahal come into the attack in that middle phase. No Markram yet, as Rishabh Pant, the skipper, walks in at number 3. He is in search of runs as well, and it's a perfect opportunity for the captain to lead from the front. Marco Jansen (1-0-10-0) to continue after the break.

5.6: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Ayush Badoni, OUT! CAUGHT! Vijaykumar Vyshak ends the Powerplay for his side in the best possible fashion. Seam-up ball, on a length, outside off. Badoni stands with an open stance and swings hard at it. He loses his shape in the process and miscues it off the inner half. Spoons it to mid-wicket, where Xavier Bartlett takes a few steps to his left and completes the catch at shoulder height. At the end of 6 overs, LSG are 61/1, chasing 255.

5.5: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Ayush Badoni, Brings out the loopy slower yorker at 111.1 kph, outside off. Badoni takes it on the full and drills it hard but picks out the man at cover. This has been a good comeback from Vyshak after a boundary on the first ball. Can he finish well?

5.4: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Ayush Badoni, Slips in another yorker, outside off. This is at 141.6 kph, Badoni throws his hands at it but the ball sneaks under his blade.

5.3: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Mitchell Marsh, This is in the blockhole, in line with the off stump. Marsh squeezes it out to extra cover. They cross.

5.2: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Ayush Badoni, Very full, angled in, on middle and leg. Ayush digs it out to the right of mid on and turns the strike over.

5.1: Vijaykumar Vyshak to Ayush Badoni, FOUR! Creamed away! Vyshak goes full in search of swing and finds a bit of away shape. Ends up being a half-volley and Badoni gets his hands through to crack the drive through covers.

Vijaykumar Vyshak to bowl the final over of the Powerplay.

4.6: Marco Jansen to Ayush Badoni, Length ball, on middle, clipped to the mid-wicket region for a single.

4.5: Marco Jansen to Ayush Badoni, FOUR! Sumptuous shot! Straightish delivery on a slightly fuller length, around off. Ayush gets on top of it and drives it to the right of mid off for a boundary. He has played a couple of pleasing strokes so far, has Badoni.

4.4: Marco Jansen to Ayush Badoni, FOUR! Adventurous! Full outside off, slower ball. Badoni shuffles across and scoops it over short fine leg for a boundary. 50 UP FOR THE SUPER GIANTS!

4.3: Marco Jansen to Mitchell Marsh, Short of a length at the pads, skidding through the surface. Marsh goes for the big heave across the line, misses the inside edge and the ball deflects off the front pad towards point. Leg bye taken.

4.2: Marco Jansen to Mitchell Marsh, Nice and full, outside off, at 122 kph. Mitchell Marsh drives the ball hard, but Shreyas Iyer at mid off does well to dive to his left and cut it off.

4.1: Marco Jansen to Ayush Badoni, Short of a length, outside off. Ayush Badoni square cuts it to deep backward point for a single.

Marco Jansen comes into the attack as the first bowling change.

3.6: Xavier Bartlett to Mitchell Marsh, FOUR! Good effort from Arshdeep, in vain though! Too full and straight on the stumps. Mitchell Marsh plays with a straight bat and drives it gun-barrel straight down the ground. Arshdeep Singh rushes across to his left with a slide from long on, even gets his hand on the ball, but ends up parrying it to the fence.

3.5: Xavier Bartlett to Mitchell Marsh, Goes for the yorker, but ends up serving a low full toss on middle. Marsh drills it straight back at the bowler. Bartlett gets low to his right on the follow-through and collects it.

3.4: Xavier Bartlett to Ayush Badoni, Slower ball on a length outside off, Badoni goes back and across and pushes it to the left of mid off for a single.

3.3: Xavier Bartlett to Ayush Badoni, FOUR! Just beats the fielder! Much fuller, around off. Badoni swings hard and slices it to deep backward point. Priyansh Arya runs across to his left from deep point and tries to palm the ball back in with a dive, but the ball goes under his body for a four.

3.2: Xavier Bartlett to Ayush Badoni, SIX! Top shot! Xavier goes full and looks for swing, but it holds its line, on off. Ayush keeps his base stable, head steady and bludgeons it over long on for a beautiful six and holds the pose as well.

3.1: Xavier Bartlett to Ayush Badoni, Short of a length outside off, swings away. Badoni clears the front leg and muscles it to mid-wicket off the inner half.

2.6: Arshdeep Singh to Mitchell Marsh, FOUR! Sublime hit! Too full, on off, Marsh presents the straight bat and drives it down the ground. Arshdeep gets a bit of hand on it to his left, but deflects it behind to the ropes.

2.5: Arshdeep Singh to Mitchell Marsh, FOUR! Streaky. Arshdeep targets the base of the leg pole with a venomous inswinging yorker. Marsh sees it late, yanks his front leg out of the way and nutmegs himself, but somehow gets the bat down in time to squeeze it out. An inside edge is found and the ball races away to the deep fine leg fence.

2.4: Arshdeep Singh to Mitchell Marsh, In the air... dropped! The difficulty level was high on this one, but Shreyas put in a good effort. Full and around off, shaping away. Marsh tries to take the slot ball on, but slices it in the air, wide of mid off. Shreyas Iyer covers a lot of ground, running over his left shoulder and stretches his hands out but can't cling on. Two taken.

2.3: Arshdeep Singh to Ayush Badoni, Swings in a touch, on a fractionally fuller length. Ayush Badoni heaves it off the inside half of the willow, and gets it to the right of mid-wicket. Vijaykumar Vyshak sprints a long way to the deep and slides to flick the ball in before the ropes. Three taken.

2.2: Arshdeep Singh to Ayush Badoni, Responds with a fiery yorker, does Arshdeep, aimed at the sticks. Ayush does well enough to jam it out.

2.1: Arshdeep Singh to Ayush Badoni, FOUR! Not from the middle, but through the gap! Hard length, nipping away from middle to off. Ayush Badoni stands tall and hoicks the ball across off the inner half. He manages to hit it into the mid-wicket and mid on gap for a boundary.

1.6: Xavier Bartlett to Mitchell Marsh, A good-length delivery, sharply swinging away, fairly outside off. Marsh opts to leave again and has a smirk at the bowler.

1.5: Xavier Bartlett to Mitchell Marsh, A hint of an away movement, at 135.3 kph, on a hard length, outside off. Mitchell Marsh watches the ball closely before leaving.

1.4: Xavier Bartlett to Mitchell Marsh, Full and swinging slightly away from off. Mitchell Marsh looks to launch it over mid off, but ends up slicing it over extra cover for two runs.

New balls, please! It seems that the ball has been lost in the crowd somewhere and is not retrievable. So the fourth umpire walks out with a box of replacement balls. The replacement has been picked by the on-field umps, and we are good to go.

1.3: Xavier Bartlett to Mitchell Marsh, SIX! Picked up and dispatched! Not all that short from Xavier, on middle and leg. Mitchell Marsh first presses forward, reads the length, hangs back and nails the pull shot deep into the stands behind deep square leg. That is some hit by the Big Bison.

1.2: Xavier Bartlett to Mitchell Marsh, Bartlett sees Marsh advancing down the track and cramps him with a hard length ball, on leg. All Marsh could do was adjust to the length and line and pat the ball back to the bowler.

1.1: Xavier Bartlett to Ayush Badoni, Hits the pitch hard with a length ball, outside off. Badoni dabs it to the right of short third for a single.

1.1: Xavier Bartlett to Ayush Badoni, WIDE! Swings down leg from a hard length, at 129.7 kph. Ayush Badoni leaves. Prabhsimran Singh moves to his left to gather it.

A probing first over from Arshdeep Singh. Xavier Bartlett will operate from the other end.

0.6: Arshdeep Singh to Mitchell Marsh, The yorker is hammered in, around off and middle, with a bit of tail into the batter. Mitchell Marsh watchfully smothers it on the pitch. A very rhythmic opening over from Arshdeep.

0.5: Arshdeep Singh to Ayush Badoni, Back of a length, on top of middle, swinging in. Ayush Badoni hangs back and whips it to the left of deep square leg for a single.

0.4: Arshdeep Singh to Ayush Badoni, Shapes in on a good length. Badoni blocks it off the back foot.

0.3: Arshdeep Singh to Ayush Badoni, A big, confident appeal for LBW, but the umpire reckons it is not straight enough and shakes his head. After a long discussion with the keeper and the bowler, Shreyas Iyer opts not to go for a review. A banana swing back into the batter, on a fuller length, possibly sliding down leg as well. Ayush Badoni plays all over it and seems to have got an inside edge back on the pads. And indeed, the UltraEdge later shows that the ball grazed the inside edge.

0.2: Arshdeep Singh to Ayush Badoni, Oh, some away movement this time. Hard length, curving away from leg to middle. Ayush Badoni hops off and drops it down the pitch with soft hands.

0.1: Arshdeep Singh to Mitchell Marsh, Pitched full and just outside leg. Marsh plays from the crease and flicks it to the mid-wicket region for a single to get LSG underway.

Welcome back for the chase. Lucknow Super Giants have a mountain to climb, and they have sprung a surprise right at the start. Neither Aiden Markram nor Rishabh Pant, but Ayush Badoni has walked out to open alongside Mitchell Marsh. Arshdeep Singh will kick things off with the new ball for the home side. Marsh to face the first ball. A slip in place. Let's go...

... THE RUN CHASE ...

A bridge too far? Lucknow Super Giants are the only team this season to not have crossed the 200-run mark, and now they not only have to cross that but go well beyond it. However, there's a first time for everything, so you never know. Stay tuned as the chase is up next.

Let's now hear from one of Punjab's stars - Cooper Connolly says it looks like quite a nice wicket to bat on, although he adds that you never really judge a surface until both sides have had a go. Admits that there was a bit of early panic, but he backed himself to get going, and once a couple of shots came from the middle, he was able to find his flow. Connolly shares that Priyansh Arya does not talk much, but he certainly hits the ball a long way. He adds that Arya is a world-class opener and someone he would switch the television on to watch. Mentions that there will be a little bit in the surface for the bowlers and backs his attack to get the job done.

Lucknow under the pump - The Super Giants are currently locked in a middle-of-the-table battle with a few more teams, and the pressure is on them to get a win. However, with how the first innings has panned out, they now face a really uphill task. LSG started perfectly with the ball as Shami got a wicket in the first and it could have been two in two overs but Rishabh Pant didn't review a LBW decision off Mohsin's bowling, which turned out to be a massive turning point. One by one, the bowlers were taken down by the Punjab batters, but amidst all the chaos, Prince Yadav delivered a fine spell, giving away just 25 runs off his 4 overs, and he picked up 2 wickets as well.

Red-hot Punjab run riot - The Kings are the reigning runners-up and they are the only unbeaten side so far this season. The first 20 overs have given us a glimpse of why they are at the top of the standings. After losing a wicket in the very first over, Priyansh Arya kept going after the bowlers and managed to end the Powerplay on a positive note. Cooper Connolly, having escaped an LBW appeal, started sluggish but hit his stride after the Powerplay. The two Next-Gen stars added 182 runs for the 2nd wicket, but unfortunately, both fell short of the three-figure mark. The Kings did lose their way for a couple of overs or so after that, but then Marcus Stoinis played a quickfire cameo of 29 off 16 balls and made sure that the Kings crossed the 250-run mark.

Six-hitting frenzy in Mullanpur - Wow, what a treat for all the Punjab fans inside the stadium, the home side hammered as many as 21 sixes and has notched up a massive score of 254 runs on the board.

19.6: Prince Yadav to Marcus Stoinis, OUT! STOINIS IS RUN OUT! PBKS finish with 254/7. Yorker, nailed around leg. Marcus Stoinis flicks this through mid-wicket. Marcus completes the first run and turns for the second as well. Nicholas Pooran picks it up and throws it at the batting end. He hits with Stoinis well short of his ground. 

19.5: Prince Yadav to Marco Jansen, Jansen would feel that he has missed out on a scoring opportunity here. Full toss, around the pads, Marco Jansen swings but gets only an inside edge onto his pads. The batters sneak in a single as the ball dribbles beside the strip on the off side. Prince charges towards the ball and picks it up. He turns around and has a shy at the bowling end but misses. Rishabh Pant did not like Yadav having a shy, given the risk of overthrows, and gave him a mouthful.

Marco Jansen walks in next with 2 legal balls left in the innings.

19.4: Prince Yadav to Shashank Singh, OUT! CAUGHT! Another short one, slower and on off. Shashank Singh rises with the bounce and looks to flat bat this over the fielder at mid on. He mistimes the hit and Aiden Markram times his jump well and takes a good catch to his left. 

19.3: Prince Yadav to Marcus Stoinis, Full and wide outside off, Marcus Stoinis drives this to deep point for one.

19.2: Prince Yadav to Shashank Singh, Short of a length, slower one, around middle and leg. Shashank Singh hooks this to long leg and takes a single. Singh was looking at the second but he slipped on the turn. 

19.1: Prince Yadav to Marcus Stoinis, Low full toss, on middle and leg, Marcus tucks this to deep square leg for a single. 250 comes up for PBKS. Harsha Bhogle informs that this is the first time a side has reached 250 against LSG.

Prince Yadav (3-0-20-1) to close out the innings. He has been LSG's best bowler tonight. Can he end well?

18.6: Mohammad Shami to Shashank Singh, FOUR! Full toss, on middle and leg, Shashank Singh shuffles across again and flicks this to the left of the fielder at short fine leg for a boundary. 

18.5: Mohammad Shami to Shashank Singh, SIX! Shashank goes big and out of the park. On a length, around off, Shashank Singh slogs this out of the park from the middle of his bat for a biggie over the deep mid-wicket fence. 

18.5: Mohammad Shami to Shashank Singh, WIDE! Back of a length, way too wide outside the tramline of off. Despite Singh moving across the stumps, the umpire calls it a wide. 

18.4: Mohammad Shami to Marcus Stoinis, Short and wide of off, Marcus Stoinis hits this to sweeper cover for a single. 

18.3: Mohammad Shami to Marcus Stoinis, SIX! This has been dispatched as well. Short and wide around off, Marcus Stoinis settles behind it and hits this for a flat six over long on. 

18.2: Mohammad Shami to Marcus Stoinis, Slower short one, flirting with the tramline. Marcus Stoinis lets it go. He has a look at the umpire but does not get the signal of wide he was looking for. Marcus does not review this time.

18.1: Mohammad Shami to Marcus Stoinis, Shami bowls it on a back of a length, around off. Marcus shuffles a long way across and leaves it. The umpire doesn't call it as a wide and Stoinis sends this upstairs. Since Marcus shuffled across the wide guideline moved with him, and the replay shows that some part of the ball was inside the revised guideline, and the on-field decision stays. 

18.1: Mohammad Shami to Marcus Stoinis, WIDE! Another one, short and way too wide outside off. Wided.

18.1: Mohammad Shami to Marcus Stoinis, WIDE! Short and wide outside off, Stoinis swings at it but misses out as this is way too wide.

Who bowls the 19th over? Rishabh Pant turns to Mohammad Shami. 3-0-36-1 so far for Shami.

17.6: Avesh Khan to Shashank Singh, Wide yorker, around off, Shashank Singh ends up chopping this to the left of the keeper. They think about sneaking in a single, but Rishabh Pant cuts it off quickly.

17.5: Avesh Khan to Marcus Stoinis, LEG BYE! On a length, around the pads, Marcus looks to go for a flick but misses and gets thud on the pads. Leg bye taken as the ball rolls to square leg.

17.4: Avesh Khan to Marcus Stoinis, FOUR! Marcus is having a party as well. Attempted yorker goes wrong and ends up in the slot for Marcus Stoinis. The Hulk gets right underneath it and smashes this up and over the bowler for a boundary in front of the sight screen. 

17.3: Avesh Khan to Marcus Stoinis, Short and wide of off, Marcus Stoinis leaves it expecting a wide but the umpire keeps his arms down.

17.2: Avesh Khan to Marcus Stoinis, SIX! As flat as it could have been. Back of a length, around off, Marcus Stoinis puts a lot of power behind it and flat bats this over the fence towards the wide long on region for a biggie.

17.1: Avesh Khan to Marcus Stoinis, FOUR! Edged away! Good length, on middle and off, ​​Marcus Stoinis flashes and gets an outside edge. It flies past the keeper to his right and races to the third man fence for four. 

Mohsin Khan is done with his quota of 4 overs, and in comes Avesh Khan to replace him.

16.6: Manimaran Siddharth to Shashank Singh, SIX! Shashank Singh starts with a biggie as well. Tossed up, around off, Shashank Singh gets right underneath it and smashes this over the fence around the sight screen for six runs. 

Shashank Singh is in next.

16.5: Manimaran Siddharth to Nehal Wadhera, OUT! CAUGHT! LSG are doing well to drag things back by picking up wickets at regular intervals. A bit short, around middle and off, Nehal Wadhera goes for the pull but fails to get enough power behind it and ends up finding Nicholas Pooran at deep mid-wicket. Pooran runs in off the ropes and completes the catch.

16.4: Manimaran Siddharth to Nehal Wadhera, SIX! Low full toss, around leg again, Nehal Wadhera once again shuffles across the stumps and laps this behind the stumps for a biggie towards the fine leg region. 

16.3: Manimaran Siddharth to Nehal Wadhera, FOUR! Full toss, around middle and leg, Nehal Wadhera goes a long way across and looks to scoop this over the short fine leg fielder but gets it off the gloves, and it races past the left of short fine leg for four. Manimaran Siddharth wanted a review for LBW, but Pant says that Nehal had hit it and doesn't opt for it.

16.2: Manimaran Siddharth to Marcus Stoinis, Full toss, wide outside off, Marcus pumps this down to long off for a single. 

16.1: Manimaran Siddharth to Nehal Wadhera, Darted onto the pads from around the stumps. Nehal Wadhera gets an inside edge onto the shoe and the batters run one. Rishabh Pant picks it up from around short leg and throws it towards the bowler's end to induce a run out but hits Nehal instead on the back of the leg.

Lucknow Super Giants are using their Impact Sub now. Mohsin Khan has been substituted by Himmat Singh.

Mohsin Khan is substituted by Himmat Singh

15.6: Mohsin Khan to Nehal Wadhera, Rolls his fingers over the ball and this is fuller, outside off. Nehal presses forward and dabs it to the left of point for one. 3 runs and a wicket from the over. 17/3 in the last 3 overs.

15.5: Mohsin Khan to Nehal Wadhera, Around the off pole, on a nagging length. Wadhera stabs it down the strip.

15.4: Mohsin Khan to Marcus Stoinis, On a good length, on the off stump. This is pushed away to point for a single.

15.3: Mohsin Khan to Nehal Wadhera, Serves it full, outside off, Wadhera drives it away to deep point for a single. 13 balls since the last boundary, looked impossible when Arya and Connolly were going great guns.

STRATEGIC BREAK! Three wickets in three overs for LSG and the fightback is on. However, with 193 already on the board, Punjab will still be targeting anything in excess of 240 runs. The momentum is with Lucknow right now and they will look to keep picking up wickets. The Kings have a bit more firepower to come but with plenty of deliveries still remaining, they will try not to build ahead of steam and lose more wickets. Let's see how the first innings eventually pans out. Also, Nehal Wadhera walks out to bat next.

15.2: Mohsin Khan to Shreyas Iyer, OUT! CAUGHT! Iyer falls cheaply and LSG have three quick wickets in 10 balls. A good phase in the game for the visitors. Mohsin pulls the length back a bit and angles the off-cutter across the right-hander. Shreyas is nowhere near the pitch of the ball but he tries to hit through the line and go back over the bowler's head. The ball leaves him to take a thickish outside edge and it goes straight to short third. Mohammad Shami is standing on the edge of the ring there and he does not have to move an inch as he gobbles it up around his waist.

15.1: Mohsin Khan to Shreyas Iyer, A swing and a miss! Mohsin starts with an off-cutter, on a length, running across the right-hander. Iyer goes hard on the drive, but the ball leaves him with the angle to beat him on the outside edge.

14.6: Manimaran Siddharth to Shreyas Iyer, Darts in a yorker, at the base of the off stump. Shreyas digs it out behind point. The backward point fielder dives to his left but the ball evades him. Mohammad Shami does well to back his teammate by getting around to his right. Keeps the batters down to a single.

14.5: Manimaran Siddharth to Shreyas Iyer, Full and on off, Iyer reaches out and drives it to the right of extra cover for a brace.

14.4: Manimaran Siddharth to Marcus Stoinis, Flat and short, on the off stump. Marcus punches it to deep point for a run.

14.3: Manimaran Siddharth to Marcus Stoinis, Clever from Stoinis. Full and on middle. Stoinis sinks to a knee and takes a step across the stumps. Plays the paddle fine of the man at deep fine leg for a couple of runs.

Marcus Stoinis walks out to bat now. Two new batters at the crease, perfect time for Lucknow to pull back things a bit, but will they be able to do so?

14.2: Manimaran Siddharth to Priyansh Arya, OUT! CAUGHT! Priyansh Arya goes now, 7 runs short of what would have been a 2nd IPL hundred for the left-hander. A top grab from Mitchell Marsh. Siddharth angles it across the left-hander and this is very full, nearly in the blockhole. Arya brings his bottom hand into play in a bid to go down the ground. He does not get enough elevation on the shot and hits it flat to long off. Marsh gets on his toes and takes the catch just over his head. Hit with a lot of power by Arya, but Mitchell holds onto it and ensures that he stays away from the ropes. The third umpire is summoned for a check and the side-on replay confirms that Marsh's feet were away from the boundary cushions.

Has Mitchell Marsh stepped onto the boundary cushion here? Marsh's face doesn't quite tell the story, but he does seem relieved, which might indicate that it is a fair catch. The third umpire is called in and this one seems close but the zoomer shows that there is a gap between the right shoe and the cushion. This is given OUT on the big screen.

14.1: Manimaran Siddharth to Shreyas Iyer, Full and drifting in, on middle and leg. Shreyas eases the drive to long on for a single.

13.6: Prince Yadav to Shreyas Iyer, Full and straight. A bit of tail back in, on middle. Iyer jams it out back past the bowler and down to long on for a single. End of a successful over for Prince and LSG.

PBKS skipper, Shreyas Iyer, replaces Cooper Connolly in the middle. 

13.5: Prince Yadav to Cooper Connolly, OUT! TAKEN! Prince Yadav breaks through for LSG fittingly. He has been Lucknow's best bowler on show tonight. Prince bends his back and bashes the hard length, over off. Cooper Connolly tries to take it on the but the ball skids through to rush the batter. The ball kicks up a bit to catch the top edge and it is skied to backward point, where Manimaran Siddharth settles under it and does the rest. End of the carnage from Cooper and who would have thought he would finish with a 46-ball 87 given his early struggles. He walks off to a standing ovation.

13.4: Prince Yadav to Priyansh Arya, A low full toss now, on off and pace on as well. Priyansh Arya stands tall and scythes it to sweeper cover for one more.

13.3: Prince Yadav to Cooper Connolly, A mishit now. Slower yorker, around the fifth stump line. Connolly hangs back and stays leg side of the ball, going hard at it and he slices it over backward point for a single.

13.2: Prince Yadav to Cooper Connolly, FOUR! Absolutely crunched! Prince angles it across the left-hander, full in length. Cooper Connolly stays leg side of the ball and frees his hands to smack it past extra cover for a boundary.

13.1: Prince Yadav to Cooper Connolly, A dot. A rarity tonight. Keeps the stumps in play, does Prince, full in length. Cooper Connolly has a hoick across the line. Ekes out an inside edge onto the pads.

CARNAGE! Aiden Markram has been taken to the cleaners as he leaked 32 off this over. Rishabh Pant would be hurting even more about why he did not take that review on Mohsin Khan's bowling, which could have ended the Cooper Connolly innings early in the second over. 

12.6: Aiden Markram to Priyansh Arya, SIX! Up, up and away! 5 sixes in the over. Aiden Markram goes for 32 runs in the over, and LSG are left scratching their heads. Markram spears it in, full and on middle. Arya gets the front leg out of the way and pumps it back towards the sight screen. 16 sixes in the innings already, with still 7 overs left.

12.5: Aiden Markram to Priyansh Arya, SIX! Just over! A fleeting hope for Nicholas Pooran on the ropes but he watches it sail over the ropes. Full and quick, on middle and leg. Arya swings across the line and he does not quite get hold of it. He manages to get enough bat on it to clear the leaping Nicholas Pooran at deep mid-wicket. Four sixes off the over with a ball to go.

12.4: Aiden Markram to Cooper Connolly, Full and on middle, Cooper swings hard at it. Gets an inside edge that goes behind square leg for a single.

12.4: Aiden Markram to Cooper Connolly, Wide! This is well wide on off. The batter shoulders arms to let that one through.

12.3: Aiden Markram to Cooper Connolly, SIX! Make that a hat-trick of sixes. Cooper Connolly continues to pepper the straight boundary. Are we in for something special? Full and fired in, on off. Cooper collapses his back knee and swings through the line. Lofts it back over the bowler's head for the third six in a row.

12.2: Aiden Markram to Cooper Connolly, SIX MORE! This is straight as an arrow! Sliding on with the arm, on the shorter side, on middle. Cooper Connolly hops back and gives himself room before thumping it over the sight screen with a horizontal bat.

12.1: Aiden Markram to Cooper Connolly, SIX! Aiden Markram is greeted with a biggie. Just stand and deliver stuff from Connolly. Darted in from around the wicket, on a length. Cooper just holds his shape and smokes it with a clean swing of the arms over long off for a six. The 150 comes up for the Kings.

11.6: Avesh Khan to Priyansh Arya, BOO! A dot ball! How did that happen? Full and wide outside off, well inside the tramline. Arya reaches for it but the ball sneaks under the willow. 18 off the over.

11.5: Avesh Khan to Cooper Connolly, Full and wide outside off, Connolly looks to drive but gets more of an outside edge, and well behind square on the off side for one.

11.4: Avesh Khan to Cooper Connolly, FOUR! For a moment, it looked like Connolly missed it. Avesh Khan goes for the straight yorker again but errs on the fuller side. Connolly shuffles across and picks the lap right off the stumps and sends it towards deep fine leg for a one-bounce boundary.

11.3: Avesh Khan to Priyansh Arya, Right on the money this time from Avesh. A yorker on middle, Arya opens the bat face and angles it to deep third for a single.

11.2: Avesh Khan to Priyansh Arya, SIX! That is some shot, class written all over it. Good length, outside off, Arya comes forward and converts it into a full toss, extends the arms, just gliding the ball off the face of the blade, and the ball travels all the way over the backward point fence.

11.1: Avesh Khan to Priyansh Arya, SIX! The Kings are unstoppable right now, but that was there to be hit. A juicy full toss, angled across off, Priyansh Arya gets a good hold of it and he clobbers it straight down the ground for a biggie.

Cooper Connolly and Priyansh Arya are smoking the ball to all the corners of the park. Avesh Khan is back in the attack.

10.6: Mohammad Shami to Cooper Connolly, FOUR! Wow, even the good balls are going to the fence now. Shami comes around the wicket and spears it in at the base of the off stump. Connolly hangs back and stays leg side before squeezing it away brilliantly between backward point and short third for a boundary. 19 off Shami's third over.

10.5: Mohammad Shami to Cooper Connolly, SIX! FIFTY up in style for Cooper Connolly. Another slower one from Shami and again, Connolly picks it well. This is pitched fuller on middle, Connolly waits well and hits through the line, dispatching it back over the bowler's head for a biggie.

10.4: Mohammad Shami to Priyansh Arya, Bowled with an upright seam, right in the blockhole on middle. Arya backs away and drills it to long off for one more.

10.3: Mohammad Shami to Cooper Connolly, Back of a length, angled across off, hit away square through cover-point for a single now.

10.2: Mohammad Shami to Cooper Connolly, SIX! Connolly is eyeing up his fifty now, and what a shot this is. Marginally short on middle, Cooper Connolly picks the length early and whacks it handsomely over deep mid-wicket for a biggie. The hang time on that one is crazy.

10.1: Mohammad Shami to Priyansh Arya, Nice and full to begin with, on leg stump, tucked away wide of mid on for a single.

9.6: Prince Yadav to Priyansh Arya, The fielder might have saved at least a couple of runs here. Pithed up wide outside off, Priyansh Arya goes after it and gets it more off the outside half of the blade. The fielder at backward point springs to his left and makes the stop. Just a single.

9.5: Prince Yadav to Cooper Connolly, Well bowled again by Prince. He nails the toe-crushing yorker and Connolly digs it out through the leg side, in front of square leg and picks up a single.

This was smashed powerfully back to the bowler and Prince Yadav might have just hurt himself trying to catch it. The physio is out in the middle and having a look at the bowler. 

9.4: Prince Yadav to Priyansh Arya, Ouch, that must have hurt. A full ball on off, Arya clears the front leg and hammers it straight back with brute force. Prince Yadav, in his follow-through, tries to get both hands on it, but the ball hits the right thumb and deflects behind. The batters get a single. Hopefully, Yadav is fine here.

9.3: Prince Yadav to Priyansh Arya, SIX! Thrashed away! Banged into the deck, short and wide outside off, Priyansh Arya stands tall, goes after the width and slams it over deep backward point for a six.

9.2: Prince Yadav to Priyansh Arya, Top delivery! A yorker, just outside the line of off stump, Priyansh Arya tries to squeeze it away but is well beaten.

9.1: Prince Yadav to Priyansh Arya, A length ball on off, cutting across the left-hander. Arya looks to hit it on the up and through the off side but gets an inside edge across to the leg side.

Prince Yadav (1-0-4-0) is called back into the attack. 

8.6: Manimaran Siddharth to Priyansh Arya, Full and on off, drilled down to long off for one more.

8.5: Manimaran Siddharth to Cooper Connolly, Another one that is fired in, ends up being a full toss. Cooper Connolly hammers it to deep cover for a single.

8.4: Manimaran Siddharth to Priyansh Arya, Well bowled! Fired into the blockhole, on leg stump, Arya blocks it off just into the leg side and picks up a single.

8.3: Manimaran Siddharth to Priyansh Arya, FOUR! Cheeky but effective. Good length, on middle and leg, around the top of the stumps. Priyansh Arya moves inside the line of the ball, and just laps it to the right of the keeper and the ball runs away fine into the fence.

8.2: Manimaran Siddharth to Priyansh Arya, An easy two on offer and up comes the FIFTY for Priyansh Arya, off just 19 balls. Shortish length on the leg stump, worked away to the left of deep mid-wicket for a couple of runs. A breezy knock from Arya so far.

8.1: Manimaran Siddharth to Cooper Connolly, Short and on off, Cooper Connolly plays the square cut. Fetches a single.

Will Ayush Badoni have another go with the ball? Not for now, as Manimaran Siddharth is ready to start his spell.

Priyansh Arya has played another sensational knock so far as his score reads 49 off 18 balls. 

7.6: Avesh Khan to Priyansh Arya, A couple of runs to end the over. Avesh hurls it on a back of a length, pace taken off, on middle. Arya arches back, lets the ball come to him and guides it to the left of backward point for a couple of runs.

7.5: Avesh Khan to Priyansh Arya, FOUR! Up and over! Back to around the wicket, Avesh nearly nails the yorker, just outside the off stump. Arya does not move his feet at all and brings his bottom hand into play. Gets enough leverage to get under the ball and he slams it over the man at extra cover for a four.

7.4: Avesh Khan to Cooper Connolly, From around the wicket, attacking the stumps, on a length. Connolly knocks it to long on for a single.

7.3: Avesh Khan to Cooper Connolly, SIX! Hold the pose, Cooper! Avesh serves it full, just outside off, Connolly just presents a high elbow and goes through the line. He extends his hands and plays the lofted hit with sweet timing over wide long off for a six.

7.2: Avesh Khan to Cooper Connolly, Missed out! Slightly too straight with fine leg up inside the circle. On a short of a length, at the hips. Cooper Connolly swings at it but misses. The ball thuds into the thigh pad before going to short fine leg on the bounce.

7.1: Avesh Khan to Priyansh Arya, Going across, on a length, Arya extends his hands and knocks it wide of mid off. Aiden Markram moves swiftly to his right and tumbles to make the stop. Just a single.

Avesh Khan to have a bowl now.

6.6: Ayush Badoni to Priyansh Arya, From over the wicket, full and in line with the leg stump at 93.7 kph. Arya wrists it to deep mid-wicket and keeps the strike with a single. The gamble to bring on Badoni does not quite work out for LSG as he goes for 14 runs.

6.5: Ayush Badoni to Cooper Connolly, Pushed through, on a length at the stumps. Connolly plays a punchy drive to wide long off and crosses over.

6.4: Ayush Badoni to Priyansh Arya, Shorter and quicker, on off. Arya chops it wide of point and gets to the other end.

6.3: Ayush Badoni to Cooper Connolly, Flat and short, on off. This is hit to deep point for one.

6.2: Ayush Badoni to Cooper Connolly, SIX! Launched down the ground! Flighted delivery by Badoni at 74 kph. Full and drifting in, on middle and leg. Cooper Connolly clears the front leg and gets his hands out in front before tonking it over long on for a six.

6.1: Ayush Badoni to Cooper Connolly, FOUR! Hammered away! This might just be the shot that gets Cooper Connolly going. A real half-tracker by Badoni, outside off. Cooper stands tall on his toes and slaps it to the right of long off for a four.

STRATEGIC BREAK! How often have we seen a bowler go the distance when they bowl a third over on the trot inside the Powerplay? Far too often. Lucknow Super Giants risked Mohsin Khan as he did look like inducing a top edge from Priyansh Arya, but it has cost Lucknow dearly. LSG did start the Powerplay stronger but Arya's hitting has pegged them back. Cooper Connolly has lived dangerously but he will now look to cash in as well. Interesting call right after the break, as Ayush Badoni, the part-time off-spinner has been given the ball by Rishabh Pant. Probably because there are two left-handers out in the middle. Maybe, Aiden Markram would have been a better option, who knows.

5.6: Mohsin Khan to Priyansh Arya, SIX! Clean strike! Mohsin Khan sticks to the short ball but fails to get it high enough to trouble the batter. This sits up to be hit, just below the chest and Arya does not miss out. Priyansh bludgeons the pull off the front foot over mid-wicket for half a dozen. Punjab finish the Powerplay strongly with a 20-run over. At the end of 6 overs, PBKS are 63/1.

5.5: Mohsin Khan to Priyansh Arya, Another teaser for the LSG fielders. Mohsin delivers it on a back of a length, on middle. Arya just hangs deep and swings through the line of the ball. Gets more height than distance as he goes back over the bowler's head. Avesh Khan runs over his right shoulder from mid on but the ball drops out of his reach. Avesh prevents the boundary by flicking it back towards the converging Aiden Markram. Two runs taken.

5.4: Mohsin Khan to Priyansh Arya, SIX! More of a top edge, but Arya will take it. Mohsin Khan bangs it in short, over middle. This comes at chest height and Priyansh Arya tries to take it on. The ball gets big on him but it sails over the long leg fence for a six. The 50 is up for Punjab.

5.3: Mohsin Khan to Priyansh Arya, FOUR! Gets it away! Fractionally short and this is the off-pace delivery, on middle. Arya pivots on the back foot and swivels a bit for the pull. This goes more off the inner half of the bat but it races away through backward square leg.

5.2: Mohsin Khan to Cooper Connolly, Leg bye! Full and slanting in at the pads. Cooper is beaten for pace on the flick. A leg bye is taken as the ball hits the front pad and deflects behind point.

5.1: Mohsin Khan to Priyansh Arya, Short of a length, on middle, Arya nudges it through mid-wicket for a single.

Bowling change? No. LSG stick with Mohsin Khan for a third straight over.

4.6: Prince Yadav to Cooper Connolly, FOUR! Nicely waited and dispatched! Prince takes pace off and goes into the surface, on off. Cooper waits for the ball to arrive and stands tall before pulling it over mid-wicket. Yadav is disappointed with himself as he concedes a boundary on the last ball.

4.5: Prince Yadav to Cooper Connolly, Five dots on the bounce. Pressure building on Cooper Connolly. Fuller in length, going away. Connolly swings hard at it and loses his shape. Miscues it off the inner half to mid on.

4.4: Prince Yadav to Cooper Connolly, Make that four in a row! Prince digs it in short at 138.6 kph, over the left shoulder. Cooper Connolly swivels for the pull but the ball keeps climbing and goes over the bat.

4.3: Prince Yadav to Cooper Connolly, Another play and a miss! Prince pitches it up, wide on off. Cooper Connolly does not move his feet at all and throws his hands at the ball but misses. Three dots in a row.

4.2: Prince Yadav to Cooper Connolly, Across off, on a good length. Cooper looks to force it away through the off side but it goes off the toe end to cover.

4.1: Prince Yadav to Cooper Connolly, Prince starts a bit too wide, on a back of a length. Cooper Connolly flashes but connects with thin air.

3.6: Mohsin Khan to Priyansh Arya, SIX! Arya has raced to 21 off 8. Hard length, around middle and leg, Priyansh picks it up and pulls this over the fence towards the deep square leg region for a massively hit six. 

3.5: Mohsin Khan to Priyansh Arya, Back of a length, into the batter, Arya doesn't quite get a hold of the pull shot and top-edges it well over square leg but short of the fielder at deep square leg. They get a couple of runs as well.

3.4: Mohsin Khan to Cooper Connolly, A tad full around middle and off, Cooper Connolly pushes this in the gap on leg for one. 

3.3: Mohsin Khan to Cooper Connolly, A well-directed short one, into the batter, on leg. Cooper Connolly mishits the pull and that's what has probably saved him here as the ball lands short of mid-wicket. 

3.2: Mohsin Khan to Cooper Connolly, FOUR! Pant and Mohsin would be gutted as Marsh was at slip in the previous over, but was taken off from there. Good length, around off, Cooper Connolly slashes and slashes hard at it. Gets an outside edge and the ball beats a diving Rishabh Pant to his left for four towards the third man region. 

3.1: Mohsin Khan to Cooper Connolly, On a length, around off, Cooper Connolly looks to slog this but the ball shapes into him and CC ends up with an inside edge onto his pads. 

2.6: Mohammad Shami to Cooper Connolly, LEG BYE! Good length, around the pads, Cooper Connolly goes for a flick but misses and gets it clipped off his thigh pad for a leg bye towards square leg.

2.5: Mohammad Shami to Priyansh Arya, Good length, on top of off, Priyansh Arya cuts this through point for one.

2.4: Mohammad Shami to Priyansh Arya, FOUR! Arya eases that into the fence for four more. Back of a length, around off, shaping away again. Priyansh Arya rises with the bounce, opens his bat face and slices this to the right of Badoni at deep third for a boundary. 

2.3: Mohammad Shami to Cooper Connolly, Back of a length, around off, Cooper Connolly punches this off his back foot to the right of extra cover and takes one. This would have raced to the fence had it gone past the diving fieler, who does well to field it.

2.2: Mohammad Shami to Cooper Connolly, Shami comes over the stumps now, bowls it on a length around off, shaping it away from the batter. Cooper Connolly has a go at it but gets beaten.

2.1: Mohammad Shami to Cooper Connolly, FOUR! Thumped nonchalantly for a boundary. Shami comes around the stumps for Cooper and hits the deck hard. Bowls it short and around off. Cooper Connolly stands his ground and whacks this over the fielder at mid off for four runs. 

1.6: Mohsin Khan to Cooper Connolly, It's all happening! On a length, around off, Cooper hits this uppishly and just past the right of the bowler on his follow-through. Mohsin is late to react, and the ball rolls to mid off. There is a direct hit at the bowling end but Connolly is in by then. Cooper is well and truly riding his luck. A single taken. 

1.5: Mohsin Khan to Cooper Connolly, Good length, around middle and off, Cooper Connolly pats this to covers. 

1.4: Mohsin Khan to Cooper Connolly, A chance missed by LSG! On a length, around middle, shaping a long way back into the batter. Cooper Connolly looks to flick this on the up but gets beaten. The ball hits Cooper on his back pad and deflects to the left of Pant. Loud appeal for LBW, but the umpire turns it down. Not a lot of support from the keeper in this appeal. Pant appears to be gesturing that this would've missed the stumps. Well, well, the Ball Tracking comes up as three reds with the ball crashing into the top of the leg stump. A wry smile on the face of Pant as he sees it on the big screen.

1.3: Mohsin Khan to Cooper Connolly, Right in the channel, around off, shaping away a shade this time. Cooper Connolly has a slash at it but gets beaten as this skids off the deck. 

1.2: Mohsin Khan to Priyansh Arya, Back of a length, into the batter, around his leg. Priyansh Arya tucks this through mid-wicket and rotates the strike. 

1.1: Mohsin Khan to Priyansh Arya, SIX! Arya deposits this into the stands. Short-pitched delivery, around off, Priyansh Arya stays inside his crease and pulls this from the middle of his bat for a huge six over the deep mid-wicket fence. 

Mohsin Khan will share the attack. The left-arm seamer returns after missing the last few games due to a niggle, with his previous appearance for LSG coming on 1st April against DC.

0.6: Mohammad Shami to Cooper Connolly, FOUR! A boundary to end the first over. Back of a length, around middle and leg, a bit too straight from Shami. Cooper Connolly steps inside a bit and flicks this through the mid-wicket region for a boundary to open his account. 

0.5: Mohammad Shami to Cooper Connolly, Beaten! Pitched up by Shami, outside off. He gets the ball to move away from the left-hander. Cooper Connolly pushes away from his body for the drive and is beaten on the outside edge.

0.4: Mohammad Shami to Cooper Connolly, Hard length, around off, Cooper Connolly shoulders arms at it, yes, you read it right. 

LSG strike early, and it is the usual suspect, Mohammad Shami. Cooper Connolly comes out at number 3.

0.3: Mohammad Shami to Prabhsimran Singh, OUT! CAUGHT! Shami delivers in the first over itself as he removes Prabhsimran Singh for a golden duck. On a length, around off, tempting the batter to go for the big booming drive. Prabhsimran Singh couldn't resist the temptation and chased this with a tentative bit of footwork. Ends up with an outside edge that goes straight into those bucket hands of Mitchell Marsh at first slip. 

0.2: Mohammad Shami to Priyansh Arya, Hard length, on top of off, Priyansh Arya pushes this in front of mid on and takes a single to get off the mark. 

0.2: Mohammad Shami to Priyansh Arya, WIDE! Second extra already. Good length, shaping away from the southpaw, way too wide outside off. Arya leaves it. Wided.

0.1: Mohammad Shami to Priyansh Arya, Back of a length, around off, Priyansh Arya hops up on his toes and punches this to covers.

0.1: Mohammad Shami to Priyansh Arya, WIDE! An extra to get us underway. Good length, wide down the leg side, Priyansh Arya misses out as he looks to flick it. Wide signalled by the umpire. 

Time to get going. Rishabh Pant leads his men out onto the park. Out walk the exuberant left-right opening pair of Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh. Mohammad Shami will steam in first up for LSG. Shami to Arya. Mitchell Marsh is at a slightly wide slip. Here we go!

Rinku Singh does it for KKR - An unbeaten 53 off 34 balls from Rinku has given the Kolkata Knight Riders their first win of the season. More relief than joy in the faces of all those present in the KKR dugout. After reducing KKR to 85/6, the Rajasthan Royals would have backed themselves to close out the game, but a 76-run stand between Rinku Singh and Anukul Roy turned it around for the home side. Mind you, Rinku was dropped on 8 as Nandre Burger shelled a dolly, and who knows how differently things might have unfolded from there.

How's the home side feeling? Xavier Bartlett, when asked about the acrobatic effort from Shreyas Iyer in the last game, says it was an unbelievable catch. He adds that Shreyas was already halfway there when he started moving. Mentions that Iyer showed excellent awareness and presence of mind to lob it in his direction. Bartlett says that is exactly the kind of effort Shreyas practices day in and day out. Shares that he has tried to add value with the bat to go with his bowling. Further says that this is the best competition in the world for a reason and that it is a privilege to be part of this franchise. Xavier shares that he feels at home here and enjoys rubbing shoulders with some of the best players in the world. Mentions that the team is playing its brand of cricket really well and sticking to its strengths.

Words from the LSG camp - Lucknow's head coach, Justin Langer says that once the batting unit gets going, it will be really exciting to see that, and they are not far off. Langer adds that Pooran is continuing to work hard on his game, just like how every great player does, and the experience he brings to the side is unmatched. Langer believes that the brand of cricket Pooran plays is what the team needs going ahead. JL praises Mukul Choudhary for his hunger and says that he is one of the hardest-working players in the side, and it is delightful to work with such a player.

Impact sub options for LSG - Himmat Singh, Abdul Samad, Matthew Breetzke, Mayank Yadav and Digvesh Singh.

Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI) - Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (C/WK), Ayush Badoni, Nicholas Pooran, Mukul Choudhary, Mohammad Shami, Avesh Khan, Prince Yadav, Manimaran Siddharth (In for Digvesh Singh) and Mohsin Khan.

Impact sub options for PBKS - Vijaykumar Vyshak, Harpreet Brar, Suryansh Shedge, Yash Thakur and Vishnu Vinod.

Punjab Kings (Unchanged Playing XI) - Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (C), Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal.

The skipper of the Punjab Kings - Shreyas Iyer shares that they do not mind setting a total. Adds that it is a great challenge, and they will have a fair idea of how to approach things going forward. Iyer mentions that the focus is on staying in the present and embracing the challenge, believing that results will follow. He also feels there are still areas where the team can improve and is keen on putting together a more comprehensive performance.

The captain of the Lucknow Super Giants - Rishabh Pant says that with Punjab Kings being so strong while chasing this season, they would prefer to have them bat first tonight. Pant adds that transparency is key in the team, as with that, one can perform without any doubts. Pant reckons that playing for 220 is better than doing that for 200. Rishabh informs that Manimaran Siddharth comes in and Digvesh Singh makes way.