Achi news desk-
PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan scored 70 off 50 deliveries. (Image: Sportzpics)
Shikhar Dhawan suggested that the loss of Liam Livingstone is one of the key reasons for their loss against the Lucknow Super Giants by 21 runs.
The Punjab Kings suffered their second consecutive defeat of the season as Lucknow Super Giants clinched the victory despite a good start from skipper Shikhar Dhawan along with Jonny Bairstow who scored a century-plus partnership during the chase at Ekana Sports City , Lucknow.
Speaking in the post-match presentations, Dhawan believed that the injury to Liam Livingstone proved to be a huge blow for the visitors during their chase as he was their original number four batsman. He said, “They played well, it’s a shame that Livingstone was injured, hurt us, and it would have come for 4″.
A pinch hitter from England had picked up an injury during the first innings when he was on the field. During the power play, he appears to have pulled his hamstring which resulted in him being out for the rest of the first innings.
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Reflecting on the second innings, Dhawan suggested they were off to a good start and opener Mayank Yadav managed to catch his attention with his pace. He also revealed his plans against him. He mentioned, “We started well, but Mayank bowled well with his pace. It was nice to face him, I was surprised at his pace, but I wanted to use his pace against him, but the bouncers and the umpires bowled well”.
Assessing the conditions in Lucknow, Dhawan revealed that he had told the batsmen to use the pace and make the best use of the shorter side of the boundary but credited the youngster’s presence of mind to tackle the plan . He added, “I was quite mindful, and he asked the batsmen 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 too”.
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Dhawan also credited Mohsin’s contributions where he took two wickets in consecutive deliveries to remove the PBKS captain along with Sam Curran to put the visitors under pressure. He mentioned, “But Mohsin bowled very well, kept a good length and suffocated us”.
The captain finished by highlighting the need to improve their catching skills. In the previous match against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Bairstow had dropped Kohli early and in today’s match, Rahul was dropped at slips early in the powerplay. He said, “We will have to analyze these defeats, the drop still cost us some momentum. That is something we will have to improve on going forward”.
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The Punjab Kings will now head to Ahmedabad where they will look to bounce back as they take on Shubman Gill’s Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium on April 4.
