The bhangra of Punjab boys, Arshdeep and Prabhsimran, in the Himalaya’s foothills leaves LSG dancing on the edge of exit
The scores suggest the game was played on different strips. It was certainly not the case. messed up their lengths on a surface with bounce and a hint of lateral movement, and Prabhsimran Singh was in no mood to spare them, as he turbocharged them to 236. and Co harnessed the juice and sting off the surface to design a 37-run win, parachuting them to the second spot on the table and a step away from guaranteed play-off spot.
But the monstrosity of the defeat margin was reduced by the late dazzle of Ayush Badoni and . The duo, aided by the delectable stroke-play, wowed the crowd, made some nervous too. But it was always a trek too steep for LSG.
When armed with the new ball, blessed with splashes of moisture and night breeze from the mountains, Arshdeep assumes the streaks of a devil. If chasing 236 was arduous, Arshdeep shut out any faint hopes with a majestic first spell of 3-0-10-3.
The three wicket-taking deliveries were routine. failed to get elevation on a leg-side ball; a shade of extra bounce induced the drag-on off Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran swiped horrifically across the line to his nip-backer. But watch the spell as a whole and his genius to bend the ball kicks in. He swung both ways, then seamed in both directions too.
After carefully studying Arshdeep’s deviations, Marsh thought he had a measure of him in the first over. But the last ball curved into him in the air and then swung away prodigiously past his outside edge. Only a batsman in imperious nick would have edged the ball; Marsh royally missed it. None of the Australian’s colleagues could fathom his swing, as he mixed his variations with telling success. He purchased sufficient bounce too, the Markram dismissal being the perfect example.
Early damage & a Lasting impact 👊
Arshdeep Singh lit up the powerplay with three crushing blows that left stunned early 🔥
Describe his match-winning spell in 1️⃣ word 👇
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His first spell left LSG in tatters. , his best touch a distant memory, could not muster the spirit of the multiple heists he had orchestrated in the whites of his country and trudged back without even a whimper. Ayush Badoni and Abdul Samad furnished a refreshing account of their six-hitting prowess, but Arshdeep returned to stem the flow of runs with a six-run over. The overs preceding his read 17, 10, 16, and 21, igniting outside hopes of miraculous victory. Unfazed by the equation, perhaps liberated by the reality that there was literally no hope, the pair went hammer and tongs in an exhibition of free-spirited hitting. All they could accomplish was to ensure the net run rate hadn’t slumped to the gorge. Post the last strategic timeout, Marco Jansen evicted Samad and LSG would stumble in the foothills of this mountainous chase.
But if only their openers were more prudent and their bowlers more resourceful in propitiating the devils of the deck. A lot of credit is owed to Prabhsimran as well.
At the start of this IPL episode, Prabhsimran Singh was at the rear of the long queue of openers nudging to wear India blues. But with each passing knock, the aggressor is swiftly breaking the line. The 91 off 48 balls was characteristic Prabhsimran, a composition that stemmed from raw power, belligerent stroke-play, and a steely resolve. He is a stockier version of his six-savvy predecessor , also raised in Patiala.
Like the former opener, he too puts a lot of body into his strokes, gets into unusual positions in the follow through, often with the front leg in the air when hitting down the track. The last of his seven sixes was an instructive presentation of his batting. ’s attempted wide yorker turned out to be a half-volley. As he had shuffled to outside the off-stump, he compressed himself for room to free his arms and flay the ball over extra cover. But he put all his weight onto the back foot, arched his upper body a bit and slugged the ball over Khan’s head with rude power generated from his bottom hand. It was such a powerful stroke that the front foot was raised to almost the mid-riff.
Muscular 🤝 Impactful
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He sweated profusely, the shirt hugged his bones when he retreated to the dug-out to the booming applause that had assembled in the first match of the season under the Dhauladhar’s imposing shadows. The bowlers, though, sweated more as he unleashed a carnage that the LSG bowlers merely watched in agony. Khan would be cursing himself for the skier he spilled when the batsman was on 22, just an over after he had plundered 17 runs off a defanged Mayank Yadav over. A tearaway last season, he has lost considerable pace and zip, and turned out to be easy fodder for Prabhsimran as well as a more rampaging Josh Inglis. The Australian began the onslaught, carting 30 off 14 balls, before Prabhsimran took over and later chimed in with a typically blustering 45 from 25 deliveries.
During the Iyer-Prabhsimran association, LSG bowled wastefully, without plan, pace or purpose. Fielders rebelled with dropped catches, as they reeled out 78 runs from eight overs. Had Iyer not floundered, toe-ending Digvesh Rathi’s floated leg-break, the first time a spinner has dismissed him this season, the figures of LSG bowlers would have looked more disfigured.
But Prabhsimran exacted his captain’s revenge on Rathi, swotting him for a pair of sixes in three balls, both monstrous slog-sweeps, his forearms resembling the trunks of an oak. He was ruthless on anything remotely short, lunging back and hammering through mid-wicket. LSG pacers sought the wrong option of trying to outfox him with slower balls. He greeted them with glee and pounded them to the distance. Nothing frazzled or frustrated, except perhaps the three-figure that had been eluding him. He fell short by 17 runs against , but nearly halved the distance here.
