Sikandar Raza finally proved that he is not out of place by becoming the first half-centurion from Zimbabwe in Indian Premier League (IPL) and helping his side beat Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by two wickets with support of Shahrukh Khan’s cameo. Despite wickets falling at the other end, Shahrukh held on to his nerves and saw PBKS home in a tricky run chase at Ekana Cricket Stadium on April 15.
The run chase of 160 got off to a poor start. Debutant Yudhvir Singh got the wicket of debutant Atharva Taide for a three-ball duck. Matthew Short started off well with three boundaries off Avesh Khan. Yudhvir struck again and uprooted Prabhsimran Singh's off stump. Short kept the scoring rate up during fielding restrictions. Impact player Krishnappa Gowtham got the wicket of a rampant Short. The Aussie batter scored 34 runs from 22 balls including five fours and one six. Raza took his time in the middle. Playing his first IPL match after 2013, Harpreet Singh Bhatia contributed with a run-a-ball 22 before losing his wicket to Krunal Pandya.
Raza made up for a slow start with a six off Gowtham. In the next over, Raza targetted the deep mid-wicket boundary smashing Pandya for two sixes and a four. Skipper Curran could not do much with the bat and got out to Ravi Bishnoi after scoring just six runs. In the 16th over, Raza got to his half-century from 34 balls. Mark Wood got the wicket of Jitesh Sharma. New batter Shahrukh Khan started off with a six over long-on off Wood. PBKS needed 32 runs off last four overs. Raza scored a boundary off Khan in the 17th over.
PBKS needed 23 off the last three overs and Rahul trusted Bishnoi to do the job. The leg-spinner did not disappoint and got Raza's wicket. He scored 57 runs from 41 balls including four fours and three sixes. He conceded just three runs and took a wicket in the 18th over. 20 were needed off the last two overs and Shahrukh's top edge went for a six. Harpreet Brar managed a boundary as well only to lose his wicket next ball. He finished with a dot ball. Bishnoi was left with seven runs to defend in the last over. Shahrukh finished the match with a four to win the match with three balls to spare. He remained unbeaten for 23 off 10 balls including one four and two sixes.
Earlier, stand-in skipper Curran won the toss and opted to bowl first. LSG got off to a decent start. While Rahul was cautious, Mayers took the attacking role. At the end of powerplay overs, LSG had 49 runs on the board. In the eighth over, Brar got the breakthrough. Mayers got caught at the boundary. He scored 29 runs from 23 balls including one four and three sixes. Meanwhile, Rahul became the fastest to 4,000 IPL runs breaking Chris Gayle's record. Raza in his first over got the wicket of Deepak Hooda who is going through a rough patch this season.
Pandya joined Rahul in the middle. Rahul got to his half-century from 40 deliveries in the 14th over. Pandya hit a couple of boundaries before becoming a victim to Kagiso Rabada in the 15th over. Rabada also got the wicket of in-form Nicholas Pooran for a golden duck to push LSG on back foot. Marcus Stoinis came out all guns blazing with two consecutive sixes off Rahul Chahar. Rahul hit Rabada for a six in the 17th over. In the 18th over, skipper Curran got rid of Stoinis who contributed with an 11-ball 15.
In the penultimate over, Arshdeep Singh got the wicket of Rahul with a knuckle ball. The opener scored 74 runs from 56 balls including eight fours and one six. In the final over, Curran struck twice. He got the wicket of impact player Gowtham and Yudhvir off consecutive deliveries. LSG managed to post 159/8 as they lost too many wickets in slog overs. Curran returned with figures of 3/31, the best by a bowler on IPL captaincy debut.
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