Pune: Lucknow Super Giants all-rounder Krunal Pandya was thrilled that his “hard work” at the nets transformed into good bowling form for LSG against Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League 2022.

Lucknow Super Giants beat Punjab Kings by 20 runs here at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Friday to register their sixth win in nine matches. Krunal Pandya was brilliant with the ball in the middle overs and put the restriction on Punjab with a high-class spell of 2/11 in his four overs. Pandya credited former India spinner Rahul Shanghvi for improvement in his bowling performance.

“I have been bowling well. For the last 7-8 months, I have been working hard. Special mention to Rahul Sanghvi. The results everyone can see as I have tried to improve my skills. A lot of times when you are playing shorter formats you don’t realize a lot of things. I have been trying to increase my height with my release and some things on my grip. I took Rahul Sanghvi’s help and it has worked,” said Krunal Pandya in a post-match presentation.

However, Krunal was also decent with the bat and the LSG all-rounder expressed hope that he looks to contribute with the bat in the tournament.

“Batting is slightly close to my heart. I haven’t been contributing much with the bat but it is a long tournament and going forward I will look to contribute with the bat,” he added.

Coming to the match, chasing a 154-run target, Punjab Kings got off to a decent start. Captain Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan gave their team a steady start. Agarwal did most of the hitting as he took the bulk of the strike.

Dushmantha Chameera got Lucknow Super Giants back into the game dismissing Punjab Kings skipper Agarwal for 25 off 17 balls as PBKS lost their first wicket for 35 runs.

Leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi got the prized scalp of Shikhar Dhawan for 5 as Punjab Kings lost their second wicket for 46. Jonny Bairstow and Bhanuka Rajapaksa took their team’s total beyond the 50-run mark. In the next over, Krunal Pandya dismissed Bhanuka Rajapaksa for 9.

Punjab desperately needed a partnership and Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone struck one to keep their side in the game. The 30-run partnership between the two was broken as Livingstone was dismissed by Mohsin Khan and Punjab Kings lost their fourth wicket for 88. In the next over, Jitesh Sharma was dismissed leg before wicket by Krunal Pandya for 2 as Punjab lost half of the side for 92.

Rishi Dhawan joined Bairstow to take Punjab’s total beyond the 100-run mark in 14.4 overs. But Punjab was dealt with a body blow as Chameera made him his second victim to leave Punjab Kings tottering at 103/6.

From there on Punjab never looked like chasing the total down as Mohsin Khan came in the 18th over to dismiss Kagiso Rabada and Rahul Chahar cheaply as Lucknow restricted them to 133/8 in 20 overs to register a victory.