Punjab Kings all-rounder Liam Livingstone was delighted after he played an instrumental role in the team’s 54 runs win over defending champions Chennai Super Kings at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday.
Livingstone shined with both bat and ball to help his team to their second win of the season.
PBKS were put under pressure as they were 14-2 but Livingstone decided to take the attack against the opposition from the word go after Ravindra Jadeja won the toss and decided to bowl first. The right-hander was able to get going and added 95 runs with Shikhar Dhawan for the third wicket alliance.
The England batter scored 60 runs off just 32 balls with the help of five fours and as many sixes and thus scored his runs at a strike rate of almost 200. Furthermore, Livingstone was also able to contribute with the ball as he scalped two wickets and conceded 25 runs in his three overs.
Livingstone dismissed a well-settled Shivam Dube, who scored 57 runs for CSK and took a fine caught and bowl catch to get rid of Dwayne Bravo. Thus, Livingstone came up with an all-around performance to play a key role in his team’s win and he was awarded the Player of the Match.
Liam Livingstone said in the post-match presentation, “The first two games hadn’t gone my way. Good to contribute to a win. Thought the boys did brilliantly. We got to a target which we thought was defendable and our seam bowlers were outstanding in the powerplay. Got to try as smart as we can. All our conversations have been ‘try and be as exciting as we can’. Nice to get a few today. I’ve been swinging hard enough, nice to get a couple off the middle today. You don’t need to remind me about it (his IPL record previously). Struggled with RR as well last year. Nice to have a performance like this. Bowling is something I really enjoy. Something I’ve spent a lot of time on. Been nice to contribute. Hopefully, as the tournament goes on, my spin comes into play. I also bat in the nets with Odean Smith, he’s got me covered by a long way, trust me. I’m sure he’ll get going at some point and you’ll see why.”
On the other hand, veteran batter Shikhar Dhawan also scored 33 runs and played a second fiddle to Liam Livingstone in that crucial partnership of 95 runs for the third wicket.
Dhawan heaped praise on Vaibhav Arora who got the ball to swing in the powerplay overs and took two crucial wickets of Robin Uthappa and Moeen Ali.
Dhawan said after the game, “It feels great. We made a great comeback. It’s amazing. He (Vaibhav) was troubling us in the nets as well. That’s why he got the debut today. He bowled a good line and length and used the pitch. I am feeling food (about his own batting). We lost two wickets so we knew we had to build. Liam Livingstone played an amazing knock to take the game away from the opposition but I also knew I had to step up. We didn’t know we would get 180 when we lost two quick wickets but we kept the positive game going. We knew we will be in the game if we take early wickets.”
PBKS will next face Gujarat Titans at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai on Friday.
