Lucknow Super Giants unleashed a gun speedster in the form of Mayank Yadav in the 11th match of the 17th edition of the IPL (Indian Premier League), who terrorised the Punjab Kings batters and finished with figures of 3/27 to help LSG win their first game of the season.
Mayank immediately caught everyone's attention when he bowled a 155.8 kmph delivery to Shikhar Dhawan on the first ball of the 12th over. The 21-year-old pacer not only impressed with his pace but also turned out to be extremely effective as a wicket-taking option for LSG.
The tall seamer provided the first breakthrough of the game to LSG when he broke the century partnership between Jonny Bairstow and Dhawan on the fourth ball of the 12th over. Mayank got rid of Bairstow (42 runs off 29 balls) before accounting for the dangerous-looking Prabhsimran Singh (19 off 7 balls) and the wicketkeeper-batter of PBKS, Jitesh Sharma.
Mayank conceded just 27 runs in his four overs at 6.80 runs per over and was awarded the Player of the Match (POTM) in LSG's 21-run win.
Notably, Mayank was bought by LSG at the mega auction of 2022 at his base price of INR 20 lakhs. However, the team combination and unforeseen injuries delayed his debut.
When he got his opportunity on Saturday, the right-arm pacer made the most out of it and had a debut to remember.
"I didn't really think it (my debut) would go that well. I have heard from the others that there can be nervousness on debut. But after the first ball, all my nervousness went away," Mayank said during the post-match presentation. "Everyone said to not take too much pressure, just bowl on the stumps, and use the pace. That's what I did."
LSG's next fixture will be against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 2.
