Mayank Yadav, the 21-year-old fast bowler, impressed straightaway on IPL debut where he bagged the player of the match award following an impressive spell that helped Lucknow Super Giants turn things around against Punjab Kings. In the process, Mayank Yadav grabbed eyeballs having consistently clocked over 150 kmph and ended up delivering the fastest ball of the tournament so far at 155.8 kmph.
Debutant Mayank Yadav then, touched speeds in excess of 150kph in a fiery spell of middle-overs bowling to clip Punjab Kings, who had threatened a successful chase courtesy a 102-run opening stand between Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow. Lucknow Super Giants shed their conservatism in style with a fine display of T20 cricket to register their maiden win of IPL 2024.
Pitch and Toss
The square boundaries are at 61m and 68m respectively, the straight boundary is at 76m. There is a bit more grass on this wicket, it’s a bit more thicker, so there might be something in it for the pacers and the spinners. But it does look good for batting with no cracks. Dew could be a factor though and the captain winning the toss could bowl first, opine BC Lara and Matthew Hayden, in their pitch report
Nicholas Pooran who came at Toss for KL Rahul of LSG won the toss and decided to bat first. KL Rahul has been named in the playing XI and he could be opening as well. LSG have handed out debuts for Mayank Yadav and Manimaran Siddharth. No changes for Punjab Kings with Prabhsimran Singh their probable impact substitute for Arshdeep Singh.
A different pitch, a new captain and a fresh powerplay approach
KL Rahul was gloved-up and partook in pre-match batting drills but didn’t come out to toss. Instead it was left to Nicholas Pooran to explain how the regular captain was going to play as an impact substitute with a view on managing his workload following a recent relapse of his quad troubles.
The intent might have resulted in two wickets but LSG managed 54 runs in the powerplay.
Nicholas Pooran, Marcus Stoinis take down Rahul Chahar
LSG’s post-PowerPlay period began with two quiet overs of spin with Harpreet Brar once again displaying extraordinary mastery of lengths, even against a left-hander. Rahul Chahar, however, was singled out for attack in his second and third overs with Marcus Stoinis clubbing him for sixes off successive balls – one down the ground and another over deep mid-wicket – before the leggie got a quicker delivery to skid on and through the LSG all-rounder’s attempted encore.
The wicket brought little respite for Chahar as new batter Pooran doled out more punishment on him. In the 12th over, Pooran slog swept a six before drilling a short ball past cover for four and then finding the sight-screen off another fuller length ball in a 20-run over. Chahar conceded 42 off his three overs and wasn’t called on to bowl another over.
The first two overs after the powerplay suggested it might be difficult to take down spin, but in the third, Stoinis, batting much earlier than in the last game, punished Rahul Chahar’s errors in length brutally with two sixes, and got out trying for a third six in the same over. The introduction of Pooran as early as in the ninth over meant Kings took off both their spinners despite Harpreet Brar’s four-run first over and a decent record against left-hand batters this IPL.
Two overs in, it was plain why spin was taken off. Pooran slogged a wrong’un from Bishnoi over the longer boundary for a six followed by a cut for four in front of square and then just a nonchalant loft back over his head for another six.
De Kock, Pooran get able finishing kick from Krunal Pandya as LSG musters 199 for 8 in 20 overs
Quinton de Kock was dismissed by Arshdeep with the first ball of the 13th over soon after the South African completed a 34-ball half-century. It was a leg cutter bouncer that accounted for de Kock, who mis-hit his attempted pull shot. Pooran, though, was unwilling to let the dismissal of a set batter dim the scoring rate and he proceeded to hit Arshdeep for a pair of fours in the same over.
In the next over, the left-hander waltzed down the pitch to the previously unhittable Brar and deposited him beyond the long-on fence. It was at this point, the start of the 16th over, that the returning Rabada produced a crucial breakthrough. Looking to flay a wide length ball, Pooran dragged it back onto his stumps to be dismissed for a 21-ball 42.
Five down at this stage, the dilemma for LSG revolved around whether they needed a batting substitute. But another southpaw, Krunal Pandya, ensured they could hold on to that tactical option for the defence with a terrific blitz that began with a pulled six off Rabada. Pandya plundered 20 runs off Harshal Patel’s 18th over and despite an excellent death-overs performance from Sam Curran (3 for 28), Pandya’s 22-ball 43* helped LSG match the highest T20 score at the venue.
A thrilling riposte as Dhawan – Bairstow gives PBKS a fiery start.
Under the lights, a bit of dew, and nice medium pace to work with, Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow made a quick start to their chase, taking 61 in the first six overs. Dhawan got to a fifty off just 30 balls, the exact required rate to win the match. Like Stoinis did after the spin slowdown in the first innings, Bairstow broke the shackles with two sixes off Bishnoi in the ninth over.
It was game on after the PowerPlay in the second innings when Dhawan and Bairstow combined to add 61. They made 102 in 11.3 overs of the chase before they were separated, triggering a domino effect. Dhawan faced the bulk of the deliveries during the fielding restrictions and using his silken timing, raced away to 41 off 25, 14 off which came courtesy a six and a pair of fours in the sixth over bowled by Mohsin Khan. Bairstow faced only 11 deliveries in this period but kept up with the asking rate, scoring 20.
Bairstow took over after Dhawan got to a 30-ball half-century with a slog-swept six off Ravi Bishnoi. The Englishman targeted cow corner for back-to-back sixes off Krunal Pandya before hitting another boundary in the following over to take Punjab to 98/0 at the half-way point of the chase.
The Mayank Yadav Show
The 21-year-old fast bowler from Delhi conceded 10 off his first over in the IPL but turned heads when the speed gun recorded his third ball at 150 kph. The first ball of the following over was measured at 155 kph and beat a well-set Dhawan’s attempted slash. A similarly pacy delivery – the fourth ball of the second over – brought him his maiden wicket as it cramped Bairstow on his attempted pull and the top-edge was snaffled.
Prabhsimran Singh fell to a similar shot in Mayank Yadav’s next over but scored 19 off 7 in his brief stay, including a six each off Mayank Yadav and Bishnoi. With Punjab tasked with scoring above 10 runs an over, Jitesh Sharma too took on a pull and miscued it. The pacy and impactful spell (3 for 27) from the debutant meant Dhawan had to chase 60 from the final four with a hobbling Liam Livingstone for company. The Englishman had pulled a hamstring in the fourth over of the first innings and was far from his physical best.
Langer is not the only who “arrived” on Saturday night. Mayank Yadav is a 21-year-old fast bowler from Delhi who has had to struggle with injuries. LSG scouted him and looked after him while he was injured during the Ranji Trophy season. When they unleashed Mayank Yadav , Kings needed to go at pretty much the same asking rate as at the start of the innings and had all their wickets in hand.
They weren’t quite prepared for the unerring pace of Mayank Yadav , though. He kept bowling uncomfortable lengths, went past 155kmph, and took out three batters, all three with the short ball, all three late on the shot. Bishnoi did his job at the other end, bowling the 11th over for just three. Mohsin Khan kept the pressure up. An injury to Liam Livingstone, which reduced him to hobbling between the wicket, didn’t help Kings.
Dhawan went from 50 off 30 to caught on 70 off 50. He later acknowledged how he tried to use Mayank Yadav’s pace by moving around, and Mayank Yadav immediately started bowling yorkers at the stumps.
Mohsin Khan seals the deal with a double strike
LSG kept going for wickets, which is acknowledgement that even the best can get hit at the death so they are probably better off bowling in phases that have more correlation between quality and outcomes. By the time that they went to that one “weak” over, LSG had 48 to defend in the last two. Krunal conceded only seven.
PBKS’ fate was sealed early in the 17th over when Dhawan gloved a short ball down the legside to fall for a 50-ball 70. With the next ball, Sam Curran miscued a pull to mid-on, effectively submitting the match. Livingstone found a string of boundaries in the final over but those strikes only helped to bring down the margin of defeat.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Shikhar Dhawan the losing skipper 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 analyze these defeats, the drop catch did cost us some momentum. That’s something we’ll have to improve going forward,”
Nicholas Pooran the winning skipper said :
“Wonderful start, nice to win in front of the home crowd. We had conversations, 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,”
“Mayank’s was the story of the night. That was an inspiring performance, he (Mayank) is a young guy. He showed the entire world how good he is. He is not only fast, but also is accurate. It’s the beauty of the IPL, gives the local players to perform. Wonderful platform. Every game is an opportunity, expect them to get better with every game. The groundsmen have contributed, as a batsman you can’t ask for anything more,”
Mayank Yadav was Player of the Match for 3 wickets on debut 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 (Bairstow) 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,”
Lucknow Super Giants register their first win of the season and get off the mark in the points table. LSG went into the innings break having scored 199/8 in 20 overs. However, Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow came out all guns blazing and dominated the powerplay. Both the openers attacked the bowlers from the outset and had a fantastic opening partnership of 102.
Just when the run chase looked in Punjab’s control, young pacer – Mayank Yadav came into the attack and bowled an inspiring spell. He hit the 150-kph mark regularly and rattled the Punjab batters with his raw pace and bounce. He broke the opening partnership by dismissing Bairstow initially, and later got two more wickets in the form of Prabhsimran Singh and Jitesh Sharma.
Shikhar Dhawan who was watching wickets fall from the other end, lost momentum and even he succumbed under pressure. Punjab kept losing wickets at regular intervals for the rest of the chase and despite Livingstone’s cameo, they fell short by 21 runs.
Justin Langer has arrived in the IPL. It took just one game of tired old T20 cricket, and the consequent heavy defeat of course, for Lucknow Super Giants to burn that book of conservative T20 cricket and play with much higher intent. As a result they didn’t have the ideal players operating in the death overs of each innings, but they had done enough damage in the middle overs on both occasions to win by 21 runs.
PBKS, who have lost two of their three games to start the season, have a three-day break before they face Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on April 4. LSG have a shorter turnaround and head to Bengaluru to face RCB on April 2