Mullanpur : Following a victory against Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, Punjab Kings (PBKS) all-rounder Liam Livingstone praised the side's bowlers for their outstanding performance in the match
A half-century by Sam Curran and his 67-run partnership with Liam Livingstone helped the PBKS secure a four-wicket win over DC in Rishabh Pant's comeback game during the IPL at Mullanpur on Saturday.
The English player asserted that the bowlers performed really well in the match especially the spinners bowled really well.
"We did really well. Our spinners dragged it really well. The pitch got better as the lights came on. The toss helped I guess. Just the first game. The bowlers have done well. We have got a very good outfit. To restrict them to what they got, was a good effort," Livingstone said in the post-match interview.
The 30-year-old further stated that he has really worked on his game in the last one month to perform better.
"We expected the pitch to get better and it did. It has been a tough sort of year for me. The group has a lot of confidence in me. I have done some work on my game in the last 4 weeks. Hopefully the start of a good tournament for us. Sam got runs for us. The middle order would be fun," the all-rounder added.
Coming to the match, PBKS put DC to bat after winning the toss. Fiery knocks on top by David Warner (29 in 21 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Mitchell Marsh (20 in 12 balls, with two fours and two sixes) helped DC start well, but they lost their way. Rishabh Pant made 18 off 13 balls in his comeback game. DC was struggling at 147/8, but an explosive cameo from Abhishek Porel (32 in 10 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) took DC to 174/9 in 20 overs.
Arshdeep Singh (2/28) and Harshal Patel (2/43) were the top bowlers for PBKS.
In the chase of 175, skipper Shikhar Dhawan (22 in 16 balls, with four boundaries) started off well. Prabhsimran Singh also contributed a useful 26 in 17 balls with five fours. But it was the 67-run partnership for fifth wicket between Sam Curran (63 in 47 balls, with six fours and a six) and Liam Livingstone (38* in 23 balls, with two fours and three sixes) sealed a four-wicket win for PBKS.
Kuldeep Yadav (2/20) and Khaleel Ahmed (2/43) were the top bowlers for DC.
Curran won the 'Player of the Match' for his knock.