The Lucknow Super Giants achieved a total of 193 runs with the help of Pooran’s 70 and Marsh’s 52, despite Cummins taking 2 wickets for 29 runs. This helped them defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad, who managed to score 190 runs with Head leading the way with 47 runs, followed by Verma with 36 and Reddy with 32. Shardul was instrumental in securing the win for Super Giants, taking an impressive four wickets for 34 runs. The final result was a victory for Lucknow Super Giants by five wickets.
Prior to the game, there was a widespread anticipation for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to achieve a 300-plus score in the history of IPL. This conjecture was supported by valid reasons. In their previous IPL match in Hyderabad, SRH had recorded an unprecedented score of 286 for 6 during the IPL 2024 season opener. Additionally, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) were missing at least two essential bowlers from their lineup.
Disregard the score of 300, as SRH was unable to reach even 200 runs. Their final total was only 190 for 9, as Shardul Thakur achieved his best IPL figures of 4 for 34.
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Despite being a substantial score, 190 was no match for Nicholas Pooran’s impressive performance. In just 26 balls, he crushed six fours and sixes, making it appear trivial. However, his dismissal by Pat Cummins with an lbw left LSG with only 71 runs to chase in 68 balls.
While playing alongside Pooran, Mitchell Marsh also managed to score a fifty before Abdul Samad sealed the deal.
In a déjà vu moment, LSG had SRH on the receiving end as they successfully chased down their target with 23 balls and five wickets remaining. The same feat had been accomplished by Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma in the previous season, when they managed to chase down LSG’s total of 165 in just 9.4 overs at this very ground.
Thakur secures back to back wickets.
LSG was well aware that the key to halting the aggressive SRH batting squad was by getting early wickets. Thakur attempted to find some swing in the opening over but unfortunately, it did not yield any results. However, he quickly made a comeback in his following over by taking consecutive wickets of Abhishek and Ishan Kishan. Abhishek fell for a pull shot that landed straight into the hands of deep square-leg while Kishan was caught down the leg side.
Head initially targeted returning Avesh Khan in the fourth over, managing two sixes and a four. However, his attempt to continue his aggressive approach against Ravi Bishnoi ended in a sky-high slog sweep. Pooran missed the opportunity to catch it at long-on. Despite this, Bishnoi couldn’t hold on to a difficult return catch just four balls later. Head was at 35 runs when the first chance was dropped, but the action only resulted in a loss of 12 runs for LSG as Prince Yadav claimed his first wicket in the IPL by knocking over Head’s stumps.
Klaasen’s strange dismissal
Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen helped SRH push past 100 in the 11th over. However, Klaasen’s wicket was a strange one as he was run out. Nitish struck a full toss from Prince towards the left of the bowler. Despite Prince dropping the catch, the ball managed to hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end with Klaasen way out of his crease. Shortly after, Bishnoi dismissed Nitish for 32 runs off 28 balls, putting SRH in a tight situation.
The phrase “sixes and outs” is commonly used in sports and refers to a player being removed from the game after scoring six points.
In line with the team spirit of SRH, the batters continued to be aggressive. However, while they successfully hit numerous sixes, they also faced frequent dismissals. Aniket Verma delivered consecutive sixes against Bishnoi and Digvesh Rathi before being dismissed for 36 runs off 13 balls. Cummins entered as the eighth batsman, quickly hitting three sixes in a row but getting out on the fourth delivery. This contributed to SRH’s total score of 180 for 8 after 18 overs. The final two overs only resulted in a mere ten runs being added to the total.
Pooran dominates the competition with ease.
Shami quickly dismissed Aiden Markram in the second over of the chase, leaving Pooran to take charge upon his entrance. His initial four runs resulted from an opponent’s error, followed by two powerful shots over deep midwicket off Simarjeet Singh’s bowling.
The decision to introduce a left-arm orthodox spinner with Pooran at the crease was a risky move. However, Cummins went ahead with it and chose Abhishek as the bowler. Despite facing only two deliveries from Abhishek, Pooran impressively slog-swept both for sixes. This brings his total number of sixes hit off Abhishek’s bowling in T20 cricket to seven out of nine balls.
Not even legspinner Adam Zampa was spared, as he faced two sixes and a four in the seventh over. Out of the first 20 balls, he sent five fours and six sixes flying.
Marsh’s half-century and Samad’s brief appearance at the crease…
When Pooran was dismissed, Marsh had already scored 37 runs off 22 balls. During the powerplay, he crushed two consecutive sixes off Shami’s bowling. He then reached his half-century off just 29 deliveries in the 11th over by hitting two consecutive fours off Cummins. However, Cummins managed to catch him at long-on shortly after, although it did not affect the outcome of the game.
LSG reached their target of 53 runs at the end of 11 overs despite losing Rishabh Pant and Ayush Badoni during the innings. With Samad, a former SRH player, hitting an unbeaten 22 off just eight balls, their win was all but assured. He efficiently sealed the victory with his quick performance.
