OPINION
Follow UsHe is here, Liam Livingstone is finally here!
60 off 32 deliveries, two wickets with the ball in hand, and two catches - the English all-rounder had a game to remember against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday (April 3). He was all over the Men in Yellow and played a massive role in Punjab Kings’ thumping 54-run win over the defending champions.
He is one of the most brutal batters in white-ball cricket but the 28-year-old was yet to make his presence felt in the Indian Premier League. Prior to tonight, Livingstone had only managed 150 runs in 11 innings at an average of 15 and a strike rate of just over 130 but the right-handed dasher on Sunday showed everyone why he is so highly rated all around the world.
"The first two games hadn't gone my way. Good to contribute to a win. All our conversations have been 'try and be as exciting as we can'. Nice to get a few today. I've been swinging hard enough, nice to get a couple off the middle today. You don't need to remind me about it (his IPL record previously). Struggled with RR as well last year. Nice to have a performance like this," said Livingstone after being named Player of the Match.
Known for his fierce bat swing, the Englishman was at his brutal best against Chennai. Mayank Agarwal and Bhanuka Rajapaksa were already back in the hut inside two overs but instead of trying to form a partnership, Livingstone took the attack to Chennai and smoked 55 runs in the next four overs. And, it was CSK’s inexperienced left-arm seamer Mukesh Choudhary who felt the wrath of Livingstone’s willow.
The middle-order batter announced his arrival by sending Choudhary’s short delivery over the fine leg fence and got one more boundary in the same over, but that wasn’t it. The real hammering came in his third over as Livingstone smacked two maximums and three fours to accumulate 26 runs from the fifth over. The first delivery was slammed for a 108-metre six, the biggest of the season so far, and things only kept getting worse for the young seamer.
Yes, he got a couple of chances but Livingstone kept playing his shots and added 95 runs for the third wicket with Shikhar Dhawan. He hammered five sixes and as many fours before eventually being caught at short third off Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling. Punjab would have liked him to carry on after Dhawan was dismissed in the 10th over but Livingstone was never going to cut down on his approach. However, he was far from done for the night.
Punjab were at least 20 runs short but they made up for it by reducing Chennai to 36/5 inside eight overs. Vaibhav Arora (2/21) was phenomenal in his first game, while Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Odean Smith and Rahul Chahar were also amongst wickets.
Shivam Dube and MS Dhoni added 62 runs for the sixth wicket but Livingstone delivered a knock-out blow when he got rid of the former. And, if that wasn’t enough, he grabbed a diving catch off his own bowling to dismiss Dwayne Bravo and end his night in the best way possible.
"We got to a target which we thought was defendable and our seam bowlers were outstanding in the powerplay. Nice to have a performance like this. Bowling is something I really enjoy. Something I've spent a lot of time on. Been nice to contribute. Hopefully, as the tournament goes on, my spin comes into play," he added.
This is just the beginning and Punjab would hope that Livingstone goes on to ace the season, mostly with the bat, and hopefully bit with the ball too.
Perfect execution from Pretorius, Jordan
Earlier, the Chennai bowling unit looked completely out of place till Livingstone was at the crease but once he perished, Dwaine Pretorius and Chris Jordan took over and choked Punjab in the second half of the innings. The two pacers kept bowling wide yorkers and Punjab could only manage 33 runs in the last five overs. Debutant Jitesh Sharma did blast three maximums but him, Shahrukh Khan, Smith and Chahar all fell to Pretorius and Jordan.
The latter missed the first two games due to an illness but Pretorius did play against Lucknow Super Giants and was one of the only two bowlers to concede less than eight runs per over in a game in which 421 runs were scored. The Men in Yellow couldn’t capitalise on Pretorius and Jordan’s performance but if these two can keep their form going, Chennai wouldn’t have to worry a lot about their death bowling. However, what they will have to worry about is putting up a complete performance as they became the eighth franchise to lose their first three matches of the season.
