Punjab Kings’ skipper Sam Curran heaped praise on Sikandar Raza who helped his team register a two-wicket win against Lucknow Super Giants on Saturday. Raza scored his maiden IPL fifty, scoring 57 runs from 41 balls, a knock with eight fours and one six.
In fact, PBKS were under the cosh at 45-3 after the end of the PowerPlay overs. However, Raza, batting at five, was able to absorb the pressure and got his team into a good position before he got out.
The finishing touches were added by Shahrukh Khan, who scored a cameo of 10-ball 23 with the help of one four and two sixes. Curran, who himself returned with impressive figures of 3-31 on his IPL captaincy debut, showered praise on Khan for finishing the run-chase.
The England all-rounder also lauded the PBKS spinners for doing a fine job in the first innings and restricting the opposition to a below-par score of 159 runs.
Sam Curran said in the post-match presentation, “Amazing win. I thought our spinners bowled nicely. KG does what he does. Bit of dew came in but the wicket was offering a little for the bowlers. The way Sikandar Raza played was brilliant. And the way Shahrukh finished it, that’s what he’s in our team to do. His role has been clear in our side. Players who can hit sixes from ball one are dangerous. You go from ground to ground – different dimensions – have to come up with different gameplans. We’ve got so many options which is lovely to have as a captain. I’ve never done it before. Hopefully, Shikhar is fit soon.”
On the other hand, Shahrukh Khan was also delighted to finish off the innings for PBKS.
He said after the game, “Really feeling good, after the first innings,. it was important to play a par game (in the chase). Raza played superbly and set it up for me. My mindset was just to stay with the ball, the practice is working out to me. I’m powerful, cheeky shots don’t work for me, so I try to hit straight and it’s good to use my muscles. I just told Brar to go for the big hit since it was the last (5th) ball of the over, unfortunately, he got out, but I was confident I could finish in the last over.”
Punjab Kings will next face Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday at their home venue of IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali.
