Punjab Kings (PBKS) are almost always guaranteed a victory once Liam Livingstone gets going, and that was the case when they took on Gujarat Titans (GT) at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Tuesday, May 4.
Shikhar Dhawan steadied the ship for PBKS with a brilliantly hit 62 runs off 53 balls. After the wicket of Bhanuka Rajapaksa fell, in came the Englishman with Punjab needing 27 to win in the final 30 balls. After playing out the dangerous Rashid Khan's over, Livingstone let one fly on the first ball of Mohammad Shami's over, with the ball floating way past the boundary and covering a massive distance of 117 metres.
Even the bowler was spotted smiling at the big hit.
"I have seen Chris Gayle do that often, but this was something different," exclaimed Punjab head coach Anil Kumble after the match. Former England captain Kevin Pietersen, who was in the commentary box during the strike, hailed it as the "biggest six he has ever seen" and reiterated the same after the match as well.
Mohammed Shami was brought for the 16th over and Livingstone cleared the front leg to swing the bat and muscled it sky-high over deep square leg for a six this is now the biggest in this season. So big was the strike that even Shami was left surprised, while PBKS skipper Mayank Agarwal jumped from his seat and was left dumbstruck.
That was not the end, however. Livingstone smashed the next two deliveries for maximums as well. First was a full toss delivery on leg, which Livingstone dispatched over mid-wicket. The next was a shorter one, on which the England star got a thick outside edge of the bat that sent the ball high over the wicketkeeper's head.
Livingstone also hit two boundaries in the next three balls - one over square leg and the other over third man as Punjab finished off the chase in the 16th over itself to win by eight wickets and snap Gujarat's winning streak.
“Swinging hard enough. I didn't think I was going to bat at one point, nice to go out and hit a few out the middle. I thought Shikhar played beautifully to set it up, and Bhanu with that partnership. It was a big win for us and we needed it, we have played some bad cricket in the last couple of games and it is nice to turn it around. I went up to Mayank and said I fancy going in before you and he said you go in if Bhanu gets out and I go in if Shikhar gets out.
"We know our roles and also if Mayank is there we have more stability. It is all about learning, it is hard to go in and play the way we wanted to as a new team. We played a bit smarter today and you have to play like that on such pitches,” Livingstone said after the match.
