The IPL on Saturday saw the birth of Mayank Yadav, India’s latest speed sensation. The 21-year-old pacer had an explosive debut as he bowled fast, very fast in fact, to rattle Punjab Kings and earn Lucknow Super Giants a 21-run win, their first this year, at the Ekana International Stadium in Lucknow.
Besides Mayank’s three wickets, Lucknow also had contributions from Quinton de Kock, stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran and Krunal Pandya.
This was the Kings’ second loss back-to-back.
How fast was Mayank? A screengrab shared on X details the Man of the Match's fast and furious spell on debut The Telegraph
After faltering against RCB the other evening, the Kings bowlers on Saturday conceded as many as 111 off the last 10 overs which allowed the Super Giants to post a formidable 199/8 after opting to bat first.
Skipper Shikhar Dhawan (70 off 50) and Jonny Bairstow (42 off 29) gave the Kings just the kind of start they needed, stitching 102 in their opening stand at nine an over. Then began the Mayank show.
Clocking the high 140kmph consistently, and also hitting 156.8kmph once, the 21-year-old New Delhi-based youngster executed the short-pitched ball to very good effect as all three of his victims — Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh (Impact Player for pacer Arshdeep Singh) and keeper-batter Jitesh Sharma — were beaten by the extra pace. All the three Kings batsmen tried to pull Mayank’s short stuff, only to give catching practice to the Super Giants fielders.
From 102/0, Punjab had slipped to 139/3 in the 16th over before left-arm pacer Mohsin Khan dismissed Dhawan and all-rounder Sam Curran — who had done well with the ball (3/28) — off consecutive deliveries to put Lucknow right on top. What also made matters worse for Punjab was the hamstring injury to Liam Livingstone, which he had sustained while fielding and could come out to bat not before the fall of the third wicket.
The Lucknow pitch, quite treacherous during last year’s IPL and the ODI World Cup, looked far better for strokeplay. That too makes debutant Mayank’s spell all the more special.
Earlier, KL Rahul, who didn’t play as Lucknow captain and was replaced by Impact Player Naveen-ul Haq as a part of his workload management, scored 15 before a soft dismissal off Arshdeep. But his opening partner Quinton top-scored with 54 off 38 balls while Pooran (42 off 21 balls) and spinner all-rounder Krunal (43 not out off 22 balls) also helped to set a 200-run target for Punjab.
Henry for Willey
New Zealand speedster Matt Henry was named in the LSG squad on Saturday as a replacement for England seamer all-rounder David Willey, who withdrew from this IPL citing personal reasons.
