Lucknow, Apr 1: Arshdeep Singh took (3-43) but Nicholas Pooran's 44 and Ayush Badoni's 41 helped Lucknow Super Giants reach 171/7 after 20 overs against Punjab Kings in Match 13 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, here at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.

After winning the toss, Punjab Kings (PBKS) made early inroads and kept the pressure on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). PBKS pacer Arshdeep Singh struck with his very first ball, dismissing in-form Mitchell Marsh for a first-ball duck. He had a good start to IPL 2025, hitting fifties in his first two innings.

The left-arm seamer banged the ball into the pitch, extracting bounce and movement, forcing Marsh into a mistimed leading edge that ballooned to Marco Jansen at short third man. Arshdeep nearly had another wicket in his second over but dropped a difficult return catch off Aiden Markram, who was on eight at the time.

With an aggressive Nicholas Pooran walking in at No.3, PBKS deployed Lockie Ferguson with the new ball, a rare move considering the Kiwi pacer usually operates with the older ball. While Markram managed to hit Ferguson for a couple of boundaries, the express pacer had the final say, clean-bowling Markram for 28.

PBKS introduced Glenn Maxwell into the attack to counter LSG’s left-handers, and the move paid off immediately. Maxwell dismissed Rishabh Pant for 2, continuing his dominance over the batter in the IPL. Pant has had a lean run so far, with scores of 0, 15, and 2 in the tournament.

However, Pooran remained unfazed. He attacked Maxwell for back-to-back boundaries, then took on Yuzvendra Chahal with calculated aggression. Pooran picked Chahal’s wrong ’uns early, finding the boundary multiple times despite the spinner trying to stay away from his hitting arc.

But Chahal, known for his clever comebacks, had the last laugh. After being taken for 4, 4, 6 in an over, he bravely tossed another wrong’un wide outside off, forcing Pooran into a miscue that ended in the hands of the long-off fielder. The big-hitting left-hander departed for a well-made 44 off 30 balls, providing a much-needed boost to LSG’s innings. Chahal finished with figures of 4-0-36-1.

LSG’s woes continued when Marco Jansen dismissed David Miller for 19 off 18 balls, with extra bounce inducing a faint edge to the keeper. Just when Punjab Kings seemed to have the upper hand, Abhishek Badoni and Abdul Samad took the attack to Arshdeep Singh, smashing him for 20 runs in the 18th over to keep Lucknow Super Giants in the game.

Late blows from Samad (27 off 12) and Ayush Badoni (41) dragged Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to 171 for 7 on a two-paced red-soil pitch.

For PBKS, Arshdeep Singh claimed two wickets in the last over of the innings and finished with a figure of 3-43.

Brief scores:

Lucknow Super Giants 171/7 in 20 overs (Nicholas Pooran 44, Ayush Badoni 41; Arshdeep Singh 3-43, Marco Jansen 1-28) against Punjab Kings.

--IANS

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