Arjun Tendulkar enjoyed a lively start to his IPL journey with Lucknow Super Giants against Punjab Kings. The all-rounder, who is the son of Sachin Tendulkar, arrived late in the chase and contributed five runs. With the ball, he bowled with control in his opening over, conceding only four runs. Lucknow would have taken more comfort if captain Rishabh Pant had held on to a difficult chance behind the stumps.
Pant was left frustrated after spilling a tough opportunity in the seventh over. The delivery was short and angled around leg, prompting Prabhsimran to go for a pull. The ball came off the glove and flew to the left of Pant; he reacted quickly, stretching across and getting both hands to it, yet it still slipped away. Prabhsimran went on to make the most of that missed moment, finishing with 69 from 39 balls.
Pant’s disappointment was mirrored by Tendulkar, as the dropped chance lingered in the mind during a tense phase of the innings.
Inglis powers Lucknow to 196/6
Josh Inglis delivered a typically ruthless knock of 72 to steer Lucknow Super Giants to a solid total of 196 for six versus Punjab Kings. Punjab needed a win to keep their hopes alive in the race for the IPL playoffs, with the match taking place on Saturday. Lucknow, who were already knocked out of contention, still managed to regroup after slipping to 69 for three in the seventh over.
Inglis and Pant put together a crucial partnership of 65 runs for the fourth wicket, with Pant contributing 26 off 21 balls. Inglis’s innings had two distinct phases: early aggression followed by a more measured push as the chase moved through different stages.
At the start, Inglis launched an over-long assault on Arshdeep Singh. He struck four boundaries in that spell, taking 16 runs off the opening burst. Then the tempo shifted as Arshdeep was replaced, bringing Ayush Badoni to the crease after Arshin Kulkarni was dismissed early. Kulkarni had opened the innings in place of Mitchell Marsh, with Nicholas Pooran also in the side.
Badoni made an immediate impact, playing a brisk 43 off 18 deliveries and forging a 49-run stand with Inglis for the third wicket. He also struck Azmatuallah Omarzai—ranked as the top all-rounder in ICC standings—for 24 runs during the fifth over. The scoring spree included a sequence of 4, 6, 6, 4, helping Lucknow reach 66 for two at the end of the power play despite the early losses.
Badoni’s momentum was cut short soon after. Prabhsimran Singh produced a sharp piece of work behind the stumps, stumping Badoni off Yuzvendra Chahal, and the decision was confirmed by DRS. After that setback, Inglis found his rhythm again, launching into an array of confident shots around the ground.
Inglis then began the next segment of his innings in emphatic fashion, striking a six followed by back-to-back boundaries—three consecutive scoring strokes against Arshdeep. In total, he took Arshdeep for six fours and two sixes, further underlining the left-arm pacer’s lean stretch.
That surge brought Pant and Inglis together once more. Pant had been dropped on 18 by Shreyas Iyer at cover off Chahal, yet he was not at his most fluent. Still, he stayed at the crease to support Inglis at a vital point. Inglis moved to his fifty in 28 balls, but the partnership ended when Pant fell to Chahal, who finished with figures of 2/25.
Inglis eventually departed when he was caught by Shreyas at a straighter long-on position off Shahshank Singh, with Shahshank used as a part-timer. Abdul Samad offered late fireworks, smashing 37 not out from 20 balls, but once Mukul Choudhary fell to Marco Jansen for 2/33, Lucknow’s chances of going beyond 200 faded quickly.
