Follow UsQuinton de Kock (54 off 38), Nicholas Pooran (42 off 21) and Krunal Pandya (43* off 22) put on quite a show against Punjab Kings and propelled Lucknow Super Giants to 199 in the first innings of Match 11 of the Indian Premier League 2024. However, by the end of the second innings, the only LSG player everyone was talking about was debutant Mayank Yadav.
In the run-chase, openers Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow got PBKS off to a phenomenal start, adding 101 runs in 11 overs. But things changed once Mayank came into the attack. The 21-year-old from Delhi was consistently touching the 150 mark and made the PBKS batter uncomfortable with his pace and bounce.
Mayank got the wickets of Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh and Jitesh Sharma and almost single-handedly turned the game in LSG’s favour. He eventually finished with figures of 3/27 and was named Player of the Match. Punjab could only score 61 runs in the second half of their innings and lost five wickets. They ended up losing the game by 21 runs.
“Never thought it would be such a good debut. Was nervous before the match. Tried to stick to my pace and aim at the stumps. Was thinking about using slower ones initially, but stuck to the quick ones. First wicket (Bairstow) was special. It's good to debut at such a young age. Had a few goals, but can't help if injuries come in the way,” said Mayank.
The right-armer missed the last season because of an injury but has made a serious impact in his very first game. Lucknow, who lost their first game against Rajasthan Royals, have got their first win of the season. “Wonderful start, nice to win in front of the home crowd. We had conversations, spoke about getting good starts. Spoke about getting the right combinations. It was a good total,” said LSG skipper Pooran.
“It's a big venue, one side is big, one side short. It's about getting wickets and getting boundaries. It's only going to get challenging. Shikhar and Bairstow played well. They didn't take the game away from us as we got wickets at the right time.
“Mayank was the story of the night. That was an inspiring performance, he (Mayank) is a young guy. He showed the entire world how good he is. He is not only fast but also accurate. It's the beauty of the IPL, gives the local players to perform. Wonderful platform. Every game is an opportunity, expect them to get better with every game.”
PBKS skipper Dhawan, who scored 70 off 50, said he was quite surprised by Mayank’s pace and accuracy. The left-hander wanted to use the pace to his advantage but the young pacer didn’t let that happen. “They played well, pity that Livi (Livingstone) got injured, that hurt us, he would have come at 4. We started off well, but Mayank bowled well with his pace.
“It was nice facing him, I was surprised by his pace, but I wanted to use his pace against him, but he bowled the bouncers and the yorkers well. I was quite mindful, asked the batters to use the short side and use his pace, but he bowled into his body (on Bairstow's dismissal) and got him OUT, I said the same to Jitesh as well. But Mohsin (Khan) also bowled really well, he kept a good length and suffocated us.”