WATCH: Liam Livingstone Smash Jofra Archer For Massive Sixes After Lunch With England Pacer Before Game

Liam Livingstone's 82 not out against Mumbai Indians went in vain as Rohit Sharma's side defeated Punjab Kings by six wickets in Mohali.

Punjab Kings all-rounder Liam Livingstone in action against Mumbai Indians in Mohali. (Photo: BCCI/IPL)

Punjab Kings (PBKS) all-rounder Liam Livingstone showed no mercy to England teammate and Mumbai Indians (MI) pacer Jofra Archer on Wednesday night in Mohali. In an IPL 2023 match, Livingstone smashed Archer for a hattrick of sixes in his final over en route to scoring 82 not out off 42 balls with 4 sixes and 7 fours.

Livingstone’s whirlwind knock along with Jitesh Sharma’s 49 off 27 balls powered the home side to 214 for 3 while Archer ended up with dismal figures of 0/56 in four overs. Archer ended up conceding 27 runs in his final over, including three successive sixes to start the over and 5 wides to finish it.

WATCH Liam Livingstone rain sixes off Jofra Archer’s bowling HERE…

FIFTY & going strong __

This has been an entertaining innings from the @PunjabKingsIPL batter ____

Can he finish on a high note?

Follow the match __ https://t.co/QDEf6eqX22 #TATAIPL | #PBKSvMI pic.twitter.com/7taq5q5I67

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 3, 2023

In the mid-innings break, Livingstone revealed that he had lunch with England teammate Archer earlier in the day and that the MI pacer had told him that he would come after him.

“It felt like a good pitch, playing spin was quite difficult. I tried to ensure that we did not lose wickets in clumps, it’s a good score. It’s a good pitch, so we will have to bowl well. It’s nice to get going. I had lunch with Archer today, and he said he was going to come after me. He (Archer) knows what I don’t like. Playing spin was a bit harder, but I picked up bowlers pretty well today,” Livingstone said in the mid-innings break.

However, it was MI who had the last laugh in the contest. Ishan Kishan’s 75 off 41 balls and Suryakumar Yadav’s 66 off 31 balls helped Rohit Sharma’s side complete the highest chase of IPL 2023 season. MI overhauled the target with 7 balls to spare and replace PBKS in sixth place on the Points Table.

Mumbai Indians have conceded 200 plus scores their last four games and the inexperience of the pace attack and rustiness of Jofra Archer is affecting them. “It is something that we need to look at, certain options we need to take in the middle of the overs, how to shut off overs,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation. “It’s been three or four games where we have conceded 200, so we need to find those options in the middle.”

As it has been with Suryakumar Yadav, his 66 off 31 balls had some breathtaking shots behind the square and his skipper wasn’t at all surprised. “Look, he has been doing that for the last couple of years. To play behind the wicket, that's his strength and he utilised it really well. Surya and Kishan batted brilliantly and good finish by Tim and Tilak,” Rohit added.