Vusumuzi Dube
Brandon Moyo
Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE international, Sikandar Raza’s Indian Premier League (IPL) side, Punjab Kings suffered a heavy 56 runs defeat at the hands of Lucknow Super Giants in a match played at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium on Friday.
Raza, coming back into the team did not take any wickets in the only over he bowled as their opponents, who are coached by Zimbabwean legend Andy Flower scored 257/5 in 20 overs. The right-handed batsman went on to score 36 runs in 22 balls as his team was bowled out for 201 runs in 19.5 overs.
With ball in hand, Raza gave away 17 runs in his one over as the Super Giants charged on in the match. South African international, Kagiso Rabada went on to take two wickets for the Kings team, giving away 52 runs in four overs while Arshdeep Singh, Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone picked up one wicket each. Marcus Stoinis top scored with 72 runs from 40 balls while Kyle Mayers fell for 54 runs off 24 deliveries.
In their chase and promoted up the order, Raza’s 36 runs was the second highest score in the Kings team. His innings consisted of eight fours and two sixes and the team’s leading run scorer was Atharva Taide with 66 runs from 36 balls as they suffered their fourth defeat in eight matches.
Yash Thakur starred with the ball for the Super Giants, taking four wickets for 37 runs in 3.5 overs while Naveen Ul-Haq had three for 30 in four overs. The other wickets were taken by Ravi Bishnoi, who had two and Stoinis with one.
Next up for Raza’s Kings side, who are sitting on position six in the 10-team league is a clash against fourth placed Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. – Follow on Twitter @brandon_malvin
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