Lucknow Super Giants stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran won the toss and elected to bat first in the inaugural home match at the Ekana Stadium. Opening batsmen KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock aimed to provide a solid start for the home team, but Rahul's cameo of 15 runs off nine balls ended in the fourth over. The woes continued for LSG as Devdutt Padikkal fell in the sixth over. Despite this, de Kock and Marcus Stoinis steadied the innings, taking LSG to 54/2 by the end of the powerplay. While Stoinis departed in the ninth over after hitting two sixes, de Kock and Pooran further accelerated, guiding their team to an impressive 88/3 after 10 overs. The Proteas notched up his 21st IPL fifty off 34 balls before departing in the following over. With Pooran at the crease, LSG aimed for a target beyond 180. Ayush Badoni joined Pooran, and together they took LSG to 146/4 by the 15th over. However, Pooran's dismissal by Kagiso Rabada in the 16th over, despite his striking at 200, halted LSG's momentum. The hosts faced stiff bowling in the slog overs, losing four wickets, but Krunal Pandya's aggressive 43 off 22 balls propelled them to 199/8 in 20 overs.

The Punjab Kings got off to an electrifying start with Shikhar Dhawan leading the charge alongside Jonny Bairstow. Dhawan picked up the pace scoring a brisk 41 off 25 balls, while Bairstow showcased his skills with 20 runs off just 11 deliveries, propelling their side to 61/0 by the end of the powerplay. The Indian southpaw reached his half-century off 30 balls with the duo powering the Punjab scorecard to 98/0 in the first 10 overs. However, the Super Giants debutant, Mayank Yadav, ended their 102-run opening partnership by dismissing Bairstow in the 12th over. Unfortunately, Prabhsimaran Singh couldn't contribute much, managing only 19 runs off seven balls before falling victim to Mayank's pace. With Dhawan and Jitesh Sharma, the Ekana stadium was all set to witness a great game as the hosts needed 64 runs in the last five overs. However, Mayank emerged as the spoiler for Punjab, snaring Jitesh and clinching his third wicket, tilting the momentum in favour of the hosts. Mohsin Khan further bolstered Lucknow's position by dismissing Dhawan and Sam Curran, leaving Punjab struggling at 144/5 after 17 overs, requiring 56 runs in the remaining three. The pressure intensified on Punjab when they managed only eight runs in the 18th over, leaving them with a daunting task of 48 runs off the last two. Krunal's exceptional 19th over, conceding a mere six runs, virtually sealed the fate of Punjab's chase. Eventually, they succumbed to 178/5 in their allotted 20 overs, marking Punjab's second consecutive loss as they fell short by 21 runs in the contest.

155.8 Km/h 🔥



Mayank Yadav breathing fire with his raw pace...#LSGvsPBKS #IPL2024 #LSGvPBKS pic.twitter.com/t3jWOGsjZy

— Ritesh Sharma (@Ritesh_Sharma11) March 30, 2024

Brilliant find!

Star born @LucknowIPL #LSGvsPBKS pic.twitter.com/EgOUSBgFBK

— Pankaj (@PankajV_07) March 30, 2024

He should have batted bit early!

Too late ra Livingstone

— sт∀ʀʟoʀԀ7 (@staarrlord7) March 30, 2024

Smashed it!

Liam Livingstone & Sam Curran as my franchise player lmao, they should've never let those cucks back in the country after 1947.

— Orange Cat (@NewInvvention) March 30, 2024