Quinton de Kock’s fifty and a quickfire 42 by stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran helped Lucknow Super Giants beat Punjab Kings by 21 runs for their first IPL win this season on Saturday.
West Indies star Pooran smashed three fours and three sixes in his 21-ball blitz after regular skipper KL Rahul opted to play only as an opener at his home ground.
De Kock hit 54 to lay the foundations for Lucknow’s 199-8 with an attacking start despite losing Rahul in the fourth over.
In reply, Punjab finished on 178-5 despite a 102-run opening stand between skipper Shikhar Dhawan (70) and Jonny Bairstow (42).
IPL debutant Mayank Yadav, who sent down this season’s fastest delivery of 156km/h, broke the stand with his maiden wicket of Bairstow and returned figures of 3-27 to swing back the momentum in Lucknow’s favour.
Earlier Lucknow lost regular wickets but Krunal Pandya hit an unbeaten 43 off 22 balls in a late assault, which fired the hosts to match the best total at the venue — Lucknow’s 199-6 against Delhi Capitals last year.
Punjab’s England quick Sam Curran returned with figures of 3-28 from his four overs.
Lucknow lost three wickets despite a quick start and were stung hard when Marcus Stoinis smashed Rahul Chahar for two sixes but was bowled on the third ball. He made 19 off 12.
De Kock put on 47 runs off 27 balls with fellow left-hander Pooran, who took on the opposition attack with hits all around.
Rahul, who returned to competitive cricket in the IPL after an injury, led Lucknow in the team’s first loss but took a backseat on home turf and was replaced in the second innings by impact substitute Naveen-ul-Haq.
De Kock reached his 21st IPL fifty in 34 balls with a boundary off seam bowler Harshal Patel but soon fell to Arshdeep Singh’s left-arm medium-pace.
Punjab replied strongly in Dhawan and Bairstow’s century partnership but the rest of the batting disappointed.
Yadav, a 21-year-old Delhi-born express bowler, took two more wickets to flatten Punjab’s chase.
Fellow pace bowler Mohsin Khan did further damage as he struck on successive balls to send left-handers Dhawan and Sam Curran, out for a duck, on successive balls.
Liam Livingstone hit an unbeaten 28 off 17 balls before Punjab fell to their second straight loss after an opening win.