Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Mayank Agarwal on Sunday (3rd April) lavished praise on Liam Livingstone for his heroics against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Match 11 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 in Mumbai.
PBKS registered their second win of the IPL 15 season after they pounded CSK by 54 runs. Asked to bat first, the Mayank Agarwal-led side were in deep trouble as they lost the captain and Bhanuka Rajapaksa for 14 runs.
However, it was Liam Livingstone’s show on display thereafter. The English batter played a blazing knock and scored 60 runs in 32 balls that included five boundaries and five sixes. On account of his brutal knock, PBKS posted a total of 180/8 on the board.
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Defending the target, PBKS bowlers were all over the CSK batters and made them look clueless. Livingstone starred with the ball as well, taking the wickets of Shivam Dube, who was going great guns, and Dwayne Bravo.
Apart from him, leg-spinner Rahul Chahar picked three wickets while debutant Vaibhav Arora also chipped in with two scalps. The Mayank Agarwal-led side bundled out the opposition for 126 runs and earned two important points.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Mayank Agarwal praised Liam Livingstone for his smashing innings, saying that ‘everyone holds their breath when he bats’.
"(Told Livingstone) Nothing. Everyone holds their breath when he is batting. Some of the shots he hits are spectacular," Mayank Agarwal said.
Agarwal admitted that after the first innings, they thought they were 5-7 runs short but taking wickets with the new ball was key and they exactly did the same.
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"We were thinking we were 5-7 short, but we knew chasing 180 wasn't going to be easy, especially if we took wickets with the new ball and that's exactly what we did. Winning that part of the game won us the game," he said.
Punjab Kings handed debut caps to two youngsters in Jitesh Sharma and Vaibhav Arora. The duo impressed many with their performances. While the keeper-batter contributed with 26 off just 17 balls, the pacer took two crucial wickets.
Mayank Agarwal lauded two debutants and talked about how the management spotted them.
"Vaibhav was with us a couple of years back and saw the talent there. He's different, he's young and has got some good skills. With Jitesh, Anil bhai had seen him when he was in MI. He said we've got to get this kid. He's got good intent," he said.
Punjab Kings will face Gujarat Titans in their next match on April 8 at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.
(ANI inputs)
