LSG vs PBKS Man of the Match Today: Who Was the MOTM in Lucknow vs Punjab IPL 2023 Match?

Dixit Bhargav | 15/04/2023
LSG vs PBKS Man of the Match Today: Who Was the MOTM in Lucknow vs Punjab IPL 2023 Match?

The recently concluded 21st match of the ongoing 16th season of the Indian Premier League between Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings is a testament to the fact that decent run-chases can also turn out to become quintessential cliffhangers.

Chasing a 160-run target at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Punjab registered a thrilling victory with 2 wickets and three balls remaining in the match. Needing three runs off four balls, Shahrukh Khan (23*) hit a Ravi Bishnoi (2/18) delivery for a boundary to not let the equation further drop.

Coming in to bat at No. 8 in the 16th over, Khan hit a four and two sixes at a strike rate of 230 to justify the faith imposed by the franchise in him.

Asked to bat first by Kings stand-in captain Sam Curran (3/31 & 6), Lucknow scored a mediocre 159/8 in 20 overs. Although it came at a strike rate of 132.14, captain KL Rahul scoring 74 (56) in an otherwise dismal batting effort from his teammtes.

LSG vs PBKS Man of the Match Today

Much like the home team, the visitors were also powered by a half-century from Sikandar Raza (57). Batting at No. 3 right after the powerplay, the Zimbabwean all-rounder’s maiden IPL half-century played a key role in a winning cause tonight.

While Curran was the pick of the Punjabi bowlers, fast bowler Kagiso Rabada dismissed a couple of batters middle-order batters. The others to pick a wicket apiece were Harpreet Brar, Raza and Arshdeep Singh. Other than dismissing Deepak Hooda (2) in the middle overs, Raza also grabbed a catch in the death overs to be rightly adjudged the Player of the Match.

“Feels great, to be honest. When I got out, there were a few demons in my head. Credit to Shahrukh [Khan]. Nice to get a fifty but if we had lost, I wouldn’t have felt so good. It’s one of the biggest stage. You’re here and you want to do well. I’ve had two average games which was there in my head,” Raza told Star Sports Network during the post-match presentation ceremony.

Post Edited By: Dixit Bhargav
Indian Premier League IPL 2023 LSG Lucknow Super Giants PBKS Punjab Kings Sikandar Raza

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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