Watch: Quinton de Kock takes brilliant diving catch to end Shikhar Dhawan's innings for 70

Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Shikhar Dhawan failed to take his team home in the ongoing game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. The match between the two teams is taking place at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.

Chasing the target of 200 runs, Shikhar Dhawan gave a powerful start to his innings as he along with Jonny Bairstow (42) put Lucknow bowlers under immense pressure. The duo added 102 runs for the opening wicket and it seemed that Punjab would win the game easily.

However, that wasn’t the case as the introduction of Mayank Yadav changed things for them. The pacer picked three wickets and put Punjab Kings under pressure. Shikhar Dhawan was left stranded at the one end and it seemed that he would take his team home.

But, he couldn’t as he perished at the crucial juncture of the game. Shikhar Dhawan looked good to eyes and played magnificently shots in his innings. With the way he was batting, it needed something special to remove him and Quinton de Kock did exactly that behind the stumps.

During the 17th over, Mohsin Khan bowled a short ball down the leg side. Shikhar Dhawan went for a pull shot but managed only a glove on it. The ball seemed to be falling short of the keeper. But Quinton de Kock put in a stellar dive forward to send the batter packing.

Here’s the video:

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Shikhar Dhawan played a magnificent innings with the bat as he ended with the innings of 70 runs off 50 balls. The batter played a strike rate of 140. The southpaw slammed 7 fours and 3 sixes in his innings and kept his team in the hunt at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.

After his wicket, Punjab Kings were left in totters as they lost wickets early. Mayank Yadavs and Mohsin Khan made a mockery of the batting lineup and removed the wickets in a quick time. They picked 5 wickets between them and won the game by 21 runs.

We will have to improve going forward – Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan talked about his team’s performance and admitted that Mayank Yadav changed the game for Lucknow Super Giants. He said that he was surprised with the pace of the fast bowler. He added that they need to analyse the defeats and win come back strongly.

“They played well, pity that Livi (Livingstone) got injured, that hurt us, he would have come at 4. We started off well, but Mayank bowled well with his pace. It was nice facing him, I was surprised at his pace.

But I wanted to use his pace against him, but he bowled the bouncers and the yorkers well. We will have to analyse these defeats, the drop catch did cost us some momentum. That’s something we’ll have to improve going forward.”

Punjab Kings will next be seen in action when they will take on Gujarat Titans on 4th April. They would be hoping to make a comeback in the next game.