Dharamsala, May 4 (UNI) Punjab Kings produced a batting masterclass to post a daunting 236 for 5 against Lucknow Super Giants in their IPL encounter here on Sunday, powered by a scintillating 91 from Prabhsimran Singh and a brutal late surge by Shashank Singh and Marcus Stoinis.
Inserted to bat first, Punjab lost debutant Priyansh Arya early for 1, caught at deep third by Mayank Yadav off Akash Maharaj Singh in the first over. But what followed was a ruthless counterattack. Josh Inglis, coming in at No. 3, launched into Mayank with a hat-trick of sixes and raced to a 14-ball 30 before he perished to a sharp catch by David Miller off Maharaj Singh.
Captain Shreyas Iyer (45 off 25) joined the free-flowing Prabhsimran to steady the innings and then accelerate. Iyer played a captain’s knock peppered with four boundaries and a couple of sixes, including a majestic loft off Prince Yadav, before falling to Digvesh Singh Rathi in the 13th over.
Meanwhile, Prabhsimran dazzled, racing to his fifty in just 30 balls with a flurry of inventive strokes — a scoop over the keeper, a dab past slip, and a thunderous slap down the ground. He was dropped on 48 by Nicholos Pooran, and he made LSG pay dearly. He hammered Avesh Khan for 26 runs in the 18th over, launching him for two sixes and a four in a show of raw power and placement.
Prabhsimran looked set for a maiden IPL hundred but fell short at 91 (48b, 6x4, 7x6), attempting a reverse-sweep off Rathi.
At 216 for 5 with 7 balls remaining, Shashank (33* off 15) and Stoinis (15* off 5) turned up the heat. Stoinis' back-knee lofted six over sweeper off Avesh and Shashank's deft scoop over fine-leg to end the innings underlined Punjab’s dominance.
None of the LSG bowlers were spared. Avesh Khan endured a night to forget, leaking 57 runs in 4 overs, while Mayank conceded 60. Rathi picked up two wickets but was expensive as well (4-0-46-2).
Punjab's powerplay yielded 65 runs and they never looked back, with every phase of their innings featuring aggressive strokeplay. With 16 sixes and 18 fours overall, the visitors have set LSG a steep chase of 237. UNI BDN SSP