A MOMENT of mirth landed Barrow's finest cricketing export in hot water with two greats of the game after his exit in Punjab Kings’ latest defeat in a disappointing Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign.

Liam Livingstone has been one of the shining lights for Punjab Kings after his return from a long absence due to injury but his reaction to being dismissed for just nine against Rajasthan Royals on Friday left Indian legends Harbhajan Singh and Yusuf Pathan furious.

The Barrovian has hit 279 runs in nine matches laced with two fifties which includes a knock of 94.

However he failed to make an impact in the defeat against Rajasthan Royals and appeared to be laughing as he walked off after being bowled by Navdip Saini after just 13 balls, leaving his side in deep trouble at 50-4.

Harbhajan and Pathan exploded with ire on-air after the incident, with Pathan exclaiming: "If we were coach, captain, or mentor of Punjab Kings and you laugh after getting out to that sort of a shot then we will never pick you (to play in IPL) again."

After Livingstone's dismissal, Jitesh Sharma appeared to shore things up for Punjab Kings with 44 from 28 balls.

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Then an explosive 73-run partnership between Sam Curran and Shahrukh Khan saw Punjab Kings reach 187 for five.

Curran smashed four boundaries and two sixes in his 31-ball 49 while the latter scored 41 off 23 with as many boundaries.

Rajasthan Royals endured a difficult start in reply, as fellow England star Jos Buttler registered his third consecutive duck in the second over – his fifth duck of the season.

But Devdutt Padikkal and Yashasvi Jaiswal struck a 73-run stand, with the former scoring a fifty as the visitors fought back.

Eventually, it was Shimron Hetmyer's 28-ball 44 that clinched a four-wicket win for Rajasthan Royals to keep their playoff hopes mathematically alive.

The result saw Livingstone’s Punjab Kings drop out of the playoff race, and captain Shikhar Dhawan said after the match: "We lost too many wickets in the powerplay and that put us on the back foot, but Curran, Jitesh, and Shahrukh got us back in the game.

"I feel 200 should have been a good total on this pitch."