Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) continued their dominance over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) as they won by seven wickets at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium to boost their chances of qualifying for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 playoffs. Prerak Mankad’s perfect anchor knock and Nicholas Pooran’s brutal hitting turned the game upside down as they chased down 183 with four balls to spare despite a slow start.
SRH opening bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Fazalhaq Farooqi were spot on with the new ball as Kyle Mayers faced too many dot deliveries. In the fourth over, Aiden Markram introduced Glenn Phillips into the attack and he ended Mayers' miserable stay at the crease. The Caribbean batter scored just two runs from 14 balls. Mankad started off well with two fours off Farooqi. After powerplay overs, LSG were 30/1.
Quinton de Kock got into the act and hit Mayank Markande for a six and a four. In his next over, Markande got his revenge. De Kock got out after scoring 29 runs from 19 balls including three fours and a six. At halfway stage, LSG were 68/2 with required run rate closing to 12 runs per over. After two more boundaryless overs, Mankad and Marcus Stoinis hit one four each in Farooqi's third over. Mankad took on Markande in the next over hitting him for a six and a four. He reached his maiden IPL half-century from 35 balls.
In the next over, Stoinis threw caution into the wind and hit Abhishek Sharma for two sixes. Stoinis went for a big hit again but got caught by Abdul Samad. Stoinis contributed with 40 runs from 25 balls including two fours and three sixes. Pooran walked out to bat with only attack on his mind. The Caribbean batter smashed him for three sixes in a row. Abhishek conceded 31 runs in his third over.
In the 17th over, Mankad opened his arms by hitting T Natarajan for a six and a four. Bhuvneshwar came back into the attack and conceded just two singles off the first four balls. Pooran then capitalised on poor deliveries with two consecutive fours. In the penultimate over, Natarajan bowled full length but when he erred, Pooran hit the full toss into the stands. In the final over, LSG needed four runs to win. Pooran finished the run chase with a four as SRH won with four balls to spare. Pooran scored 44 runs from 13 balls including three fours and four sixes. On the other end, Mankad stayed unbeaten for 64 off 45 balls including seven fours and two sixes.
Earlier, Earlier, Markram won the toss and opted to bat first. Abhishek was the first to ball. Yudhvir Singh forced Abhishek to go for a pull shot but all he managed was a minor edge off his glove. Anmolpreet Singh and Rahul Tripathi used the fielding restrictions well. In the sixth over, Yash Thakur bowled a brilliant over to dismiss Tripathi. He scored 20 runs from 13 balls. SRH were 56/2 after powerplay overs.
Amit Mishra took a beating but got the wicket of opener Anmolpreet. He scored 36 runs from 27 balls including seven fours. At halfway stage, SRH were 101/3. Klaasen attacked from the start and hit Ravi Bishnoi for a four and a six. In the 13th over, stand-in skipper Krunal Pandya introduced himself into the attack. The left-arm spinner surprised Markram with a massive turner to get him stumped. Markram scored 28 runs from 20 balls including two fours and one six. Next ball, Glenn Phillips got bowled while trying to defend on the back foot.
In the 16th over, Klaasen broke the shackles and hit Mishra for back-to-back sixes. Samad got into the act as well with a six off Pandya. Thakur bowled a good over at death conceding just seven runs. In the penultimate over, Samad started off with a six off Avesh Khan. Avesh followed it up with a high full toss which was called a no-ball. But skipper Krunal Pandya reviewed it and the third umpire reversed the decision. The controversial call irked Klaasen and Samad as they had a heated exchange with on-field umpires. Klaasen followed it up with a boundary but the crowd misbehaved with LSG players throwing nuts and bolts at their dugout. The game was halted for a while and umpires intervened. The interruption had an impact on Klaasen as he got out in the same over. In the final over, Samad hit Thakur for a six. However, Thakur conceded only nine runs as he started off with three dot deliveries.
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