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Lucknow got off to a flying start thanks to Kyle Mayers Kyle Mayers 54 off 24. Then Marcus Stoinis and Ayush Badoni stitched 89 run partnership and LSG stood strong in the middle overs. Nicholas Pooran's 19-ball 45 quickfire did the rest as LSG posted a massive total of 257/5 on the board, second highest total in IPL history.

Hazelwood sustained an Achilles injury during a Test match in Sydney in January and has since not featured in any format of the game. The Australian was initially selected for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India but was headed back home midway through the series midway to continue his rehabilitation from an Achilles complaint.

Shikhar Dhawan has returned as captain for PBKS after missing a few matches due to his shoulder injury. While PBKS have made two changes with Sikandar Raza coming in for Mathew Short and Gurnoor Brar making his debut, LSG are unchanged. Speaking about his shoulder injury, PBKS skipper Dhawan said, "Shoulder is much better - pain free now".

The LSG pacer, who has already missed the last two matches due to illness, is expected to fly back home in late May. The English speedster has been in impressive form in IPL 203, picking 11 wickets in his four appearances including 5 for 14 on his IPL debut against Delhi Capitals.

Rahul looked good in reaching his fifty in 38 balls and had a strike-rate upwards of 150 in powerplay, apart from sharing fifty-plus stands with Kyle Mayers and Krunal Pandya. But after crossing his fifty, the LSG skipper managed to get his next 18 runs off 23 balls to eventually make 68 off 61 balls, falling in the final over to Mohit Sharma as Lucknow ended up at 128/7 in 20 overs, choking in what looked like an easy chase in a baffling fashion.

But Gujarat's bowlers, led by Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad, who picked two wickets each along with experienced Shami, produced top-notch bowling on a slow pitch with relentless accuracy to defend 135 and help the reigning champions pull off a miraculous seven-run victory in Match No 30 of the IPL 2023 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, here on Saturday.

On a slow pitch where spinners and slower deliveries from the fast bowlers ruled the roost, Gujarat's batters found it difficult to find their timing, barring captain Hardik Pandya's 66 off 50 balls and Wriddhiman Saha hitting 47 off 37 balls. Such was the difficulty in stroke play that Hardik was the only batter from Gujarat to hit all of their sixes in their innings.

In his four overs, Lucknow Super Giants leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi didn't take a wicket but gave away only 25 runs. In the 17th over, Riyan Parag and Devdutt Padikkal struggled to score big off Bishnoi, who conceded only six runs to inch Lucknow closer towards victory on a two-paced pitch.

Rahul was pulled up for a Code of Conduct breach in Match 26 played at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, the Indian Premier League informed in a statement. "As it was the team's first offence of the season under the IPL's Code of Conduct relating to minimum over-rate offences, Rahul was fined Rs 12 lakh," the IPL informed in a release on Thursday.

Avesh Khan and Stoinis ended up with figures of 3/25 and 2/28 respectively as table-toppers Rajasthan Royals, who were looking on course for victory in their chase of Lucknow's 154/7, were restricted to 144/6 in their 20 overs, losing the match by 10 runs.