In Match 38 of TATA IPL 2023, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) dominated Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali, winning by 56 runs and setting the second highest IPL score of 257. LSG won the toss and decided to bat, with Kyle Mayers starting the game aggressively, cracking four fours off Arshdeep Singh. He continued his attack against Gurnoor Brar, smashing him for a six and a couple of fours, while KL Rahul was dropped by Atharva Taide on the first ball. Mayers continued to attack, bringing up his fifty off just 20 balls with a powerful six over long on to Sikandar Raza.
After Mayers was caught at long-on for 54, Marcus Stoinis took over and smashed his highest IPL score of 72 off 40 balls, supported by Ayush Badoni (43 off 24) and Nicholas Pooran (45 off 19), as LSG reached 257/5. PBKS' chase of 258 started poorly as captain Shikhar Dhawan was caught by Stoinis at deep backward point off the first over, followed by Prabhsimran Singh heaving one straight to deep backward square leg off Naveen-ul-Haq. Atharva Taide tried to counter-attack with five fours and a six, reaching his maiden IPL fifty off 26 balls as PBKS reached 93/2 at the halfway stage.
Sikandar Raza joined Taide to rebuild the innings, hitting Ravi Bishnoi for a four and a six in the 11th over, but departed in the next over, slashing one straight down the throat of the deep point fielder, off Yash Thakur. Taide continued his fight, but top-edged his slog sweep, and Bishnoi did well to pouch the catch off his own bowling. Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone, and Sam Curran tried to keep up with the required run rate but Livingstone was dismissed for 23 off 14 by Bishnoi, trapping him LBW off a googly. PBKS ended up falling well short of the target as they were bowled out for 201, with Yash Thakur (4/37) and Naveen-ul-Haq (3/30) impressing with the ball.
LSG's impressive win saw them move to second in the table, while PBKS made four changes to their starting XI with the return of Shikhar Dhawan, but failed to make an impact. Debutant Gurnoor Brar would have had a dream start to his IPL career as KL Rahul cut the first ball uppishly to backward point but Atharva Taide dropped the catch. However, LSG's collective bowling effort proved too strong for PBKS, and they will need to regroup and come back stronger in their next match.