Punjab beats Lucknow to go second in IPL and Kolkata stays in top-four contention

DHARAMSALA, India (AP) — Prabhsimran Singh led the way with 91 off 48 balls as Punjab Kings beat Lucknow Super Giants by 37 runs to go second in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.

Singh’s fourth half-century of the season included seven sixes and six fours as Punjab scored 236-5 in 20 overs. Skipper Shreyas Iyer contributed 45 off 25 balls, hitting two sixes.

Lucknow’s chase finished at 199-7 despite Ayush Badoni’s 74 off 40 balls, and the Super Giants took a blow in its bid for a top-four place. Lucknow is now seventh after 11 games – with five wins and six losses. Punjab has 15 points from 11 games and sits between leader Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Mumbai Indians. Gujarat Titans completes the top four.

Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders beat Rajasthan Royals by one run to keep its top-four bid alive.

Stand-in skipper Riyan Parag smashed five sixes in one over but still finished on the losing team as Rajasthan’s chase fell agonizingly short.

Parag hit eight sixes overall in his 45-ball 95. Rajasthan finished on 205-8 in its 20 overs with Varun Chakravarthy (2-32), Harshit Rana (2-41) and Moeen Ali (2-43) taking six wickets between them.

This was after Andre Russell’s 57 not out off 25 balls propelled Kolkata to a total of 206-4.

Kolkata is now sixth in the points’ table, with five wins in 11 games, and can still make the top four. Rajasthan is eighth with its ninth loss in 12 games, and was already eliminated along with Chennai Super Kings.

Punjab batters

Punjab batters lit up its second home despite losing hard-hitting opener Priyansh Arya for one.

Singh raced to 50 off 30 balls, adding 48 off 22 with Josh Inglis (30) and then another 78 off 47 balls with skipper Iyer.

It was the second partnership that really fueled Punjab’s score – Singh and Iyer hit nine sixes overall between them.

Iyer fell against the run of play – out caught off Digvesh Rathi’s leg spin – but Singh carried Punjab past 200.

It was Singh’s highest score of the season and he fell nine short of a second IPL hundred. Shashank Singh hit 33 not out off 15 balls as Lucknow faced a challenging target.

The Super Giants lost both openers cheaply – Arshdeep Singh bowled Aiden Markram for 13, while Mitchell Marsh was caught for a five-ball duck.

Arshdeep trapped Nicholas Pooran lbw for six and Lucknow was down to 27-3 in 4.2 overs.

Rishabh Pant fell for 18 off 17 balls – another indifferent innings – but Badoni’s half-century revived Lucknow.

Abdul Samad hit 45 off 24 balls later in the innings.

Kolkata gets one-run win despite Parag’s heroics

Opting to bat first, Kolkata lost Sunil Narine for 11. Rahmanullah Gurbaz made an early impact with 35 off 25, including four fours and a six.

He added 56 off 33 balls with Ajinkya Rahane, who scored 30 off 24 before he was caught behind off Parag in the 13th over.

Kolkata was well placed at 111-3 in the 13th over. Russell added 61 off 33 balls with Angkrish Raghuvanshi (44 off 31).

Their partnership allowed Kolkata to get within sniffing distance of 200. Russell hit 50 off 22 balls with six sixes and four fours – his first half-century of the season. He also added 34 off 11 balls with Rinku Singh (19 not out), who hit two sixes.

In reply, Rajasthan lost teenage batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi (4) early. It became a double blow as Kunal Rathore fell for a five-ball duck to leave the team at 8-2 in the second over.

Yashasvi Jaiswal struck a calm 34 off 21 balls, with five fours and a six, to revive the innings. He added 58 off 31 balls with stand-in skipper Parag, who took charge after the opener fell in the seventh over to Moeen Ali.

While Parag went about his business, Kolkata’s spinners put Rajasthan in a bind. Chakravarthy led the way – he struck twice in the eighth over – bowling Dhruv Jurel and Wanindu Hasranga in the space of three balls, both batters out for ducks.

Rajasthan had lost three wickets in six deliveries when Parag found Shimron Hetmyer for company. They added 92 off 48 balls to resurrect the chase.

Parag scored his first half-century of the season off 27 balls and then went into power-hitting mode. He hit five successive sixes off Ali in the 13th over, and then made it six out of six, hitting his first ball of the next over from Chakravarthy for six as well.

Impact sub Rana got the breakthrough, dismissing Hetmyer, but Parag’s charge had put Rajasthan back in the game.

Shubham Dubey, impact sub for Rajasthan, scored 25 not out off 14 balls to take the chase into the final over after Rana also dismissed Parag in the 18th over.

Needing 22 off the last six balls, Dubey brought it down to three off three but then was run out on the last ball trying to take the game to a Super Over.

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