PBKS skipper Dhawan showers praise on Mayank Yadav, says "He bowled well with his pace"

The Punjab-based franchise conceded a 21-run loss against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Speaking at the post-match presentation, Dhawan said that Liam Livingstone's injury 'hurt' during the match.

While concluding, the skipper said that the team management will 'analyse' their two consecutive defeats.

"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. 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," Dhawan said.

Recapping the match between Lucknow and Punjab, fiery knocks from Quinton de Kock (54 runs from 38 balls), Nicholas Pooran (42 runs from 21 balls), and Krunal Pandya (43* runs from 22 balls) powered the hosts to 199/8.

Sam Curran led the Punjab's bowling attack after he scalped three wickets from his four over spell. Arshdeep Singh bagged two wickets after delivering three overs. Kagiso Rabada and Rahul Chahar could manage to take just one wicket in their respective spells.

In reply to LSG's 199 runs, PBKS openers Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Naistow started off the chase with a positive and aggressive approach. Both batters put on a 50-run partnership in the 5.1 overs Dhawan slammed a boundary on the bowling of left-arm seamer Mohsin Khan.

Mayank took his maiden wicket of his IPL career as he dismissed Bairstow on the fourth ball of the 12th over. The right-hand batter was sent back to the pavilion after scoring 42 runs off just 29 balls, which were laced with three fours and three sixes each in the innings. He built an outstanding partnership of 102 runs with Dhawan.

Soon after the first wicket by Mayank, the momentum shifted towards the LSG side as the hosts were successful in clinching a 21-run win over Punjab. (ANI)