Punjab Kings have moved to the top half of the league standings with the help of a 2-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants in Saturday's evening fixture.
After winning the toss, stand-in Punjab skipper Sam Curran put Lucknow into bat first and captain KL Rahul top-scored for the team with 74, which was also his first half-century of the season. Kyle Mayers was the second-highest scorer with 29 as Sam Curran picked 3/31 and Rabada 2/34. Lucknow were restricted to 159/8.
Punjab had a new opener, with Shikhar Dhawan nursing a shoulder niggle, but Atharva Taide faced just 2 balls before getting out on a duck. Prabhsimran Singh too lasted just 4 deliveries before getting out on 4 and Punjab were reduced to 17/2 in 2.2 overs. Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza anchored the chase and scored his maiden half-century of the Indian T20 League, but he was running out of partners at the other end. Harpreet got out on 23, Sam Curran on 6, Jitesh Sharma on 2, and eventually, Ravi Bishnoi got him out on 57, with the team needing 21 from 2.1 overs. But Shah Rukh Khan was still at the crease and the team needed 7 runs from 6 balls and he obliged - hitting the winning runs and collecting the two points from the win.