Punjab Kings Aim for Win as Pant Returns for LSG
Mullanpur: Punjab Kings will rely on their powerful batting to continue their winning streak against the formidable Lucknow Super Giants but will be further strengthened by the presence of their captain Rishabh Pant in Sunday’s IPL match. PBKS, the only unbeaten team so far, looked inauspicious this season with four wins from five matches and had lost one match against Kolkata Knight Riders. The Shreyas Iyer-led team has a healthy net run rate of +1,067 thanks to strong batting displays fueling clinical chases.
The Kings have proven their dominance by winning nine of their last 11 matches since the 2025 season and this was also seen in their recent win against Mumbai Indians. It will take something special from LSG to stop the home side’s momentum.
Lucknow, currently placed seventh in the points table, are reeling from back-to-back defeats but Pant’s return in Sunday’s match will be a relief for them. The LSG skipper suffered an elbow injury in the previous match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Speaking to the media ahead of the match against PBKS, LSG bowling coach Bharat Arun said Pant was “completely fine” and fit enough to play on Sunday.
Pant had retired due to injury after facing just three deliveries. Although he later returned with a tightly strapped elbow, he was only able to manage 1 of 6 balls and it remains unclear whether he will be able to take part in Sunday’s match.
It was a one-sided contest against RCB as LSG could only muster 146, with Mukul Choudhary and Ayush Badoni showing some resistance.
Their innings is yet to materialize as the team has crossed the 200-run mark this season. In contrast, Punjab surpassed this target twice and were cruising at 198 in 16.3 overs against MI in their last match.
While Punjab opener Prabhsimran Singh (211 runs) had a phenomenal touch, skipper Iyer (203) was equally impressive, striking 172.95 and 187.96 respectively. The duo combined effectively against MI. Priyansh Arya and Cooper Connolly also contributed significantly to Punjab’s batting firepower.
On the bowling front, spearhead Arshdeep Singh returned to form with 3/22 against MI.
Can LSG’s bowling attack stop PBKS?
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Prince Yadav was Lucknow’s most successful bowler with nine wickets, followed by Avesh Khan (5) and Mohammed Shami (4), who were smashed by Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar the other day.
Digvesh Rathi was also expensive in this game, losing heavily to Jitesh Sharma and Tim David and will need to recover.
In the batting department, Mukul Choudhary (127), Aiden Markram (120), Mitchell Marsh (115) and Ayush Badoni (113) contributed the bulk of the runs. But to turn things around, the batting unit needs to be more assertive.
While big names like Marsh and Markram should be successful in the power play, Nicholas Pooran has a shortage of numbers. For Lucknow to challenge Punjab, their batting needs to be done collectively.
Teams:
Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash, Harnoor Singh, Prabhsimran Singh (week), Vishnu Vinod (week), Nehal Wadhera, Azmatullah Omarzai, Cooper Connolly, Marco Jansen, Musheer Khan, Mitchell Owen, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Suryansh Shedge, Arshdeep Singh, Xavier Bartlett, Yuzvendra Chahal, Praveen Dubey, Ben Dwarshuis, Lockie Ferguson, Harpreet Brar, Vishal Nishad, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Thakur.
Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant (captain), Aiden Markram, Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Mukul Choudhary, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arshin Kulkarni, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ayush Badoni, Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan, M Siddharth, Digvesh Rathi, Akash Singh, Prince Yadav, Arjun Tendulkar, Anrich Nortje, Naman Tiwari, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan.
The match starts at 19.30. PTI ATK AH PDS KHS
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