The National Times - Arya, Connolly help Punjab hammer Lucknow in IPL

Arya struck 93 off 37 balls and fellow left-hander Connolly hit 87 to power Punjab to this season's highest total of 254-7 after being invited to bat first in Chandigarh.

In reply, Lucknow managed just 200-5 as Punjab consolidated their top spot in the 10-team table with five wins and one no result in six matches.

An early reprieve for Connolly proved costly for Lucknow after skipper Rishabh Pant decided not to review an lbw call in the second over from Mohsin Khan and replays suggested the ball would have hit the stumps.

Australia's Connolly was on four at the time and put on 182 runs for the second wicket with Arya as the two bludgeoned the opposition attack with sixes.

Arya reached his second fifty of the season in 19 balls and soon the Lucknow attack had no answers for the batting blitz.

Connolly went after Aiden Markram with three straight sixes and Arya finished the over with two more in a 32-run 13th over and Punjab looked at 300.

But pace bowler Prince Yadav took down Connolly and Arya fell three balls later in the next over to miss out on a century.

Mohsin dismissed skipper Shreyas Iyer for five but Australia's Marcus Stoinis steered the team to a mammoth total with his 16-ball 29.

Mitchell Marsh, who hit 40, and Ayush Badoni (35) handed Lucknow a brisk start and Pant hit 43 but regular wickets and the ever-increasing run rate kept the team behind the chase.

Markram hit a valiant 22-ball 42 and despite a few dropped catches from Punjab fielders Lucknow lost their third straight match.

K.M.Thompson--TNT