Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) recovered from a precarious start against Punjab Kings (PBKS) to finish on 171/7 in the first innings of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 match No. 13 at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, April 1.

After being put in to bat first by Shreyas Iyer, Lucknow lost the wicket of the in-form Mitchell Marsh in the first over itself. Arshdeep Singh drew first blood for the visitors. Fellow opener Aiden Markram hit a flurry of boundaries before being dismissed by Lockie Ferguson in the fourth over. LSG skipper Rishabh Pant failed yet again with the bat as he was dismissed by an innocuous delivery from Glenn Maxwell in the penultimate over of the powerplay.

At 35/3, LSG were in a spot of bother. However, Ayush Badoni joined hands with Nicholas Pooran, and they stitched a 54-run partnership 40 balls to steady the ship. Yuzvendra Chahal broke their stand as he dismissed the dangerous Pooran for 44 (30).

Badoni formed another important partnership of 30 runs with David Miller before the latter was dismissed by Marco Jansen. Abdul Samad walked out to bat at No. 7, and he blazed his way to a 12-ball 27, hitting two fours and as many sixes. He gave LSG just the kind of momentum they needed at the back end of the inning. Badoni, who made 41 off 33 balls, was dismissed in the last over, and so was Samad.

In the end, the hosts finished with a decent score on a surface which seems to be challenging for the batters. However, it is certainly not unplayable and batters can score runs if they are willing to apply themselves at the crease.

After the first innings, Arshdeep, who finished with figures of 3/43 in his four overs, said that there was help on the pitch for the seamers. He also explained his bowling plans against the Punjab batters.

"(On his bowling performance) I mean that was pretty average on a wicket which was providing help to seam bowlers. In the powerplay, it was stopping a bit and movement was also there, we could have hit the lengths more. Nowadays, the batters don’t trust their defence much, they swing hard so I had two slips and a deep cover, just in case he swings and gets an edge, so I was attacking with two slips. I feel it’s a good total, we have to bat well to chase it down," Arshdeep said between innings on air.