After his side’s 21-run win over Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match, Lucknow Super Giants bowling coach and former South African great Morne Morkel praised young pacer Mayank Yadav for bowling with some “serious heat” and making life uncomfortable for the batters. Debutant Mayank Yadav’s stunning four-over spell restricted Punjab Kings (PBKS) to 178/5 and helped his side Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to a 21-run win at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Saturday. During his stint, Mayank often touched the 150 kmph mark, with one of his deliveries also reaching a speed of 155-156 kmph. He was voted ‘Player of the Match’ for his game-changing spell.
After the match, Morkel said during the post-match presentation: ‘Happy with the win. Bowlers complied. In the first timeout I told the bowlers to stay in the game. Then young Mayank bowled seriously and got the wickets. It was tough last year when he got injured after the first warm-up match. We can manage him better. He came in, and that was a pleasant thing. He bowled 155 tonight and made life uncomfortable for the batters. We asked the boys to “Do the basics well on a good wicket. I told him (Mayank) to stick to his height and use bouncers. He proudly ran in and bowled fast despite the humidity. How it wicket was unknown, we had to add up. Set up the conditions and take advantage of it. We had five to six days after the first match, that could have worked against us too.”
Mayank has played two first-class matches, 17 List-A matches and 11 T20 matches. He will represent Delhi at the domestic level, having made his List-A debut in 2021 and his first-class debut in 2022.
LSG opted to bat first after winning the toss. Quinton de Kock (54 in 38 balls, with five fours and two sixes), skipper Nicholas Pooran (42 in 21 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and Krunal Pandya (43* in 22 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) helped LSG reach 199/8 in 20 overs. There was a 47-run partnership between Kock and Pooran for the fourth wicket that helped LSG establish themselves after some quick wickets.
Sam Curran (28/3) and Arshdeep Singh (3/30) were the pick of the bowlers for PBKS. Rahul Chahar and Kagiso Rabada took a wicket each.
In the chase, skipper Shikhar Dhawan (70 in 50 balls, with seven fours and three sixes) and Jonny Bairstow (42 in 29 balls, with three fours and three sixes) kicked things off with an opening partnership of 102 runs. But Mayank’s fiery spell derailed PBKS’ efforts, reducing them to 141/4 in 16.2 overs. Liam Livingstone (28* in 17 balls, with two fours and two sixes) tried to battle it out, but PBKS were restricted to 178/5 in their 20 overs.
Mohsin Khan also picked up two wickets for 34 runs.
LSG are fifth in the points table with two points, having won one match and lost one. PBKS are in sixth place, with one win and two losses, giving them two points.
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