Mayank Yadav took the cricketing world by storm with raw pace during the LSG-PBKS clash.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, LSG posted a massive 199/8 on the board on the back of Quinton de Kock's half-century (54 off 38 balls) and vital knocks from Nicholas Pooran (42) and Krunal Pandya (43).
Chasing the target, PBKS got off to a blistering start as the duo of captain Shikhar Dhawan (70 off 50 balls) and Jonny Bairstow (42 off 29 balls) added 102 runs for the opening wicket.
However, debutant Mayank had some other plans. He struck when things were starting to look bleak for LSG, getting rid of Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh and Jitesh Sharma to return with figures of 3/27.
Thanks to his fiery spell, LSG restricted PBKS to 178/5 in 20 overs. This was Punjab’s second loss in three matches.
"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," Dhawan said at the post-match presentation.
"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 analyse these defeats, the drop catch did cost us some momentum. That's something we'll have to improve going forward," he added.
Punjab Kings’ next match is scheduled against Gujarat Titans on April 4 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.