OUT! Mohammed Shami strikes on the first ball of the innings. He bowls a short delivery, and Priyansh Arya mistimes the pull shot. The ball lobs up in front of Arjun Tendulkar at mid-wicket.

PBKS 0-1 (0.1)

Mohammed Shami gets ready with the new ball. Priyansh Arya is on the strike, Prabhsimran Singh is at the other end. Here we go...

Poor finish from Arshdeep Singh! He ends up leaking 17 runs in his final over. The pacer returns with figures of 0 for 52 from his three overs. Lucknow Super Giants have posted a competitive total on the board.

LSG 196-6 (20)

Vijaykumar Vyshak bowls the 19th over and concedes only six runs. Punjab Kings have made a brilliant recovery of late. They now have one final over to bowl, with Arshdeep Singh set to deliver it.

LSG 179-6 (19)

OUT! Marco Jansen gets Mukul Choudhary! He was troubling the LSG batter in this over, and ends up getting his wicket. Mukul smashes it into the hands of the fielder at long-on. Lucknow Super Giants are six down.

Mukul Choudhary c (sub)Praveen Dubey b Marco Jansen 1(3)

LSG 172-6 (17.5)

OUT! Shashank Singh gets a third over and ends up claiming a wicket. Josh Inglis tries to hit it straight down the ground but finds Shreyas Iyer on the edge of the boundary. Iyer runs to his left from long-on and completes the catch.

Josh Inglis c Shreyas Iyer b Shashank Singh 72(44) [4s-9 6s-2] 

LSG 169-5 (17)

Abdul Samad dances down the track on the fifth ball, and Marco Jansen bangs it short outside off. Samad adjusts well and smashes the ball over long-on for a biggie. Jansen follows it up with a dot ball. 10 runs come off the over.

LSG 157-4 (16)

Shashank Singh gets a second over but ends up leaking 13 runs this time. Josh Inglis slams the medium pacer for two fours, starting the over with a boundary and ending it the same way.

LSG 147-4 (15)

OUT! Yuzvendra Chahal dismisses Rishabh Pant. The southpaw attempts a big hit but ends up finding the fielder at the deep backward square leg. Lucknow Super Giants are four down.

Rishabh Pant c Marco Jansen b Yuzvendra Chahal 26(22) [4s-3]

LSG 134-4 (13.5)

Shashank Singh gets the ball and concedes only four runs in his first over. He doesn’t give away a single boundary despite Josh Inglis attempting a reverse sweep.

LSG 126-3 (13)

Josh Inglis slams a half-century in 28 balls! This has been a solid knock from the Lucknow Super Giants opener. This innings showcases his adaptability. He started all guns blazing, then took a back seat when Ayush Badoni was firing on all cylinders. Once Badoni fell, Inglis took responsibility for scoring boundaries and attacked the bowlers.

This turns out to be a brilliant comeback from Yuzvendra Chahal. The spinner was hit for nine in his previous over but concedes only three this time. He bowls smartly in this over against set batters Josh Inglis and Rishabh Pant, who are both searching for a big shot.

LSG 103-3 (11)

FOUR, SIX! Josh Inglis slams Vijaykumar Vyshak for two boundaries to end the 10th over. 12 runs come off it. The maximum on the final ball sees Lucknow Super Giants reach the 100-run mark.

LSG 100-3 (10)

A total of 22 runs have come in the last three overs. Lucknow Super Giants ended the powerplay on a high, but Ayush Badoni's wicket has impacted their scoring rate. Yuzvendra Chahal and Vijaykumar Vyshak have bowled quiet overs since then to keep LSG in check.

LSG 88-3 (9)

OUT! Yuzvendra Chahal provides Punjab Kings with a much-needed wicket! He dismisses Ayush Badoni, who was firing on all cylinders. The LSG batter loses his balance after failing to connect with a shot on the off side. A smart Prabhsimran Singh waits for the moment before dislodging the bails. 

Ayush Badoni st Prabhsimran Singh b Yuzvendra Chahal 43(18) [4s-5 6s-3]

LSG 69-3 (6.4)

4, 6, 6, 2, 4 — this is sensational batting from Ayush Badoni. The right-handed batter goes berserk in the final over of the powerplay, smashing Azmatullah Omarzai for two sixes and as many fours. A total of 24 runs come off the over.

LSG 66-2 (6)

4, 4, 6, 4 — Ayush Badoni is off to a terrific start! The 26-year-old batter smashes Marco Jansen for three fours and a six in the over, with a total of 18 runs coming off it. Lucknow Super Giants are mounting a strong recovery.

LSG 42-2 (5)

That is a good shot from Ayush Badoni for four! Marco Jansen bowls a good length delivery onto the pads of the LSG batter, and he clips it on the leg side for a boundary. Priyansh Arya gives chase in the deep but fails to stop the ball.

LSG 28-2 (4.1)

OUT! LSG are two down! Nicholas Pooran tries to pull the short of length delivery and he ends up getting an inside edge onto the stumps. LSG are two down. They are in big-big trouble. 

Nicholas Pooran b Marco Jansen 2(7)

LSG 20-2 (2.5)

OUT! Another failure for Arshin Kulkarni! He wastes yet another opportunity. The right-handed batter gets out for a first-ball duck. It is a good length delivery outside off-stump, Arshin throws his bat at it and gets an under edge to the wicketkeeper. 

Arshin Kulkarni c Prabhsimran Singh b Azmatullah Omarzai 0(1)

LSG 16-1 (1.1)

4, 0, 0, 4, 4, 4 - Arshdeep Singh gets smashed for four fours in the first over. Josh Inglis charged at the pacer and made it a big over. He is off to a fiery start in this game. 

LSG 16-1 (1)

Josh Inglis gets off the mark with a four! Arshdeep Singh bowls a good length delivery outside off-stump and the Punjab Kings opener smashes it through the sweeper cover for the boundary.

LSG 4-0 (0.1)

Punjab Kings Impact Subs: Harpreet Brar, Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Praveen Dubey.

Lucknow Super Giants Imact Subs: Shahbaz Ahmed, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Manimaran Siddharth, Himmat Singh, Akash Maharaj Singh.

Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Prabhsimran Singh(w), Priyansh Arya, Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Josh Inglis, Arshin Kulkarni, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Arjun Tendulkar, Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav, Mohsin Khan.

Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer gets it right at the toss and opts to bowl first against Lucknow Super Giants in this crucial match tonight. “Mujhe toh pata hi tha (I knew it),” says Pant as soon as he hears Iyer's decision after the latter wins the toss.

Graeme Swann and Aaron Finch have analysed the pitch as a batting-friendly wicket, which will also offer a little bit of help for the bowlers. So, chasing on this surface is likely to be easier than setting a target. We are just a few minutes away from the toss. Don’t go anywhere, stay connected!

L, L, L, L, L, L — this is what Punjab Kings' recent form looks like. A team that was touted to finish in the top-two spots in the points table midway through the tournament is now struggling to secure a victory. Can they break this losing steak tonight?

Punjab Kings' bowling has been their biggest concern in IPL 2026. Arshdeep Singh hasn't fired consistently, while the rest of the pacers like Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett and Lockie Ferguson have been in and out of the side. It'll be interesting to see what combination they go with for today.

Rishabh Pant hasn't enjoyed a good season, and he is yet to even cross the 300-run mark in IPL 2026. However, Pant will take inspiration from the 2025 season, when he had smashed a stunning century in LSG's final game, and hope to replicate that today.

Josh Inglis was at the centre of one of the most high-profile releases ahead of the IPL 2026 auction, with PBKS letting him go in a last-minute move, after Inglis informed them he would miss the majority of the tournament due to him getting married.

Inglis was picked up by LSG for Rs 8.6 crore in the auction, and has played a few fiery knocks already despite joining the team late. For Punjab, perhaps nothing would hurt more than Inglis ending their playoff hopes.

According to reports, Lucknow Super Giants are set to be without star Australia opener Mitchell Marsh for today's match. Marsh has been in sensational form of late, scoring a century and two 90+ scores in his last 4 games.

This means LSG will need to find a different opener alongside Josh Inglis today, adding to Rishabh Pant's headaches. It will certainly be a big boost for PBKS, who will not have to worry about dealing with the in-form opener.

Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab Kings need something spectacular to arrest a disastrous slide and keep their fading playoff hopes alive. The side, which was unbeaten till its seventh game this season, has now lost six on the trot, with its hopes of making it to the next round hanging by a thread.

Hello folks, welcome to NDTV's live blog. Lucknow Super Giants host Punjab Kings at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow, tonight. Stay connected for live scores and updates from the game.