The 12th game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) saw the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) taking on the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). The match witnessed some brilliant all-round performances as LSG handed SRH their second straight defeat of the season.
Here is a detailed highlight of the match.
Who won the Toss?
The Sunrisers Hyderabad had won the toss and chose to bowl first. Despite losing their first match badly, SRH didn’t make any changes to their eleven.
KL Rahul notified the viewers of one change as Jason Holder replaced Dushmantha Chameera.
LSG vs SRH 1st Innings Highlights
Batting first after losing the toss, LSG was hoping for a blistering start from their experienced openers, KL Rahul and Quinton De Kock. After a silent first over from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rahul’s cover drive off Washington Sundar brought the maiden boundary for LSG.
The off-spinner came back strongly by dismissing De Kock in the same over. Kane Williamson caught him sensationally at covers, bringing Evin Lewis to the crease.
The West Indian survived a first-ball duck as SRH reviewed an LBW decision by the on-field umpire. Ball tracking showed the ball just clipping the stumps (Umpire’s call), making the decision stand. LSG were 8-1 after two overs.
Rahul hit a handsome square drive off Bhuvneshwar to get his second boundary of the innings and bring some positive intent into the game. However, Evin Lewis, who struggled to get bat on ball, was trapped in front by Washington Sundar in the fourth over. His fall brought an out of form Manish Pandey to the middle.
With both wickets going to Sundar, LSG were 17-2 after 4 overs. Pandey pulled Romario Shepherd for a boundary and a six to up the ante. But two balls later, he was caught at mid-off by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. It seemed like SRH had a plan for Pandey as Shepherd bowled 3 short balls to him and got him out on the same length.
LSG were down to 27-3 after 5 overs, and a collapse lurked around their heads. They could manage only 32 runs in an underutilized powerplay, losing 3 of their top-order batsmen.
The responsibility to take the team out of trouble was on the shoulders of Rahul and Deepak Hooda. Rebuilding was the key since they needed a decent total on board for a dew-induced 2nd innings. Umran Malik bowled a speedy 7th over and gave away only three runs, and by the time 9 overs were done, LSG were 48-3.
In the 10th over of the innings, bowled by Umran Malik, the two batters scored 20 runs, including three fours and a six. Hooda’s maximum off the last ball could have been a catch at third man by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who stretched his hands but couldn’t hold on to the ball; instead, he sent it over the ropes.
Another six in the 12th over by Hooda brought up the fifty partnership between him and Rahul. By the end of the 13th over, LSG were 92-3. In the next six balls, Hooda took the attack on SRH as he hit two boundaries and a maximum off Umran Malik. Suddenly, LSG were back in the hunt with full steam.
As SRH looked for a breakthrough, Williamson brought Romario Shepherd for his third over. The change proved worthy as he struck off the first ball, dismissing Hooda for a well-made 51 off 33 balls. After 16 overs, LSG were 120-4, and just then, the SRH skipper brought the spinner, Washington Sundar, into the attack, who had given only 11 runs in his 3 overs.
The move turned out to be fatal for the fielding side as KL Rahul smashed Sundar for a boundary and a six. Ayush Badoni ended the over with a four, and LSG looked like leaping towards a big total. But a seven-run over from Bhuvneshwar applied brakes to the run flow. LSG had reached 144-4 after 18 overs.
T. Natarajan bowled the 19th over of the innings, and despite pressure on him, the youngster did well to LBW Rahul on the first ball. Known as a ‘yorker specialist,’ Natarajan disturbed the stumps of Krunal Pandya, taking two wickets in the over while giving away just 8 runs.
The final over was given to Romario Shepherd, who strayed away from a good line and got deposited for 17 runs. Eventually, LSG ended with 169-7 in their 20 overs.
LSG vs SRH 2nd Innings Highlights
Chasing 170 runs on a tricky DY Patil pitch, Kane Williamson and Abhishek Sharma walked out to open the innings for SRH. They started slowly, scoring 11 runs in the first two overs. The Hyderabad captain took a cautious approach and decided to first have a look at how the pitch was behaving.
However, young Abhishek took the onus of playing the accelerator as he hit the first boundary of the innings towards fine leg. Williamson paddle swept Jason Holder over fine leg for a six in the third over, taking the score to 21-0 after 3.
He then welcomed Avesh Khan with a stylish square drive for a boundary, but the seamer came back strongly and got the better of Williamson, who again went for a paddle sweep but couldn’t time it perfectly and only managed to find Andrew Tye at fine leg.
The SRH captain fell cheaply for 16 runs. One might wonder why a class batsman like Williamson, who is so good in front of the wicket, would play paddle sweeps in the powerplay. Rahul Tripathi came at number three to join Sharma in the center.
Both tried to rebuild to some extent, but Avesh Khan did Abhishek Sharma with his speed. The left-hander miscued a drive, and the pace of Khan made the ball travel miles in the air before getting caught carefully by Manish Pandey.
In the same over, Deepak Hooda dropped Rahul Tripathi at point. It was a tough chance combined with a supreme effort from Hooda, who dived to his left but couldn’t hold on to the ball.
SRH were 40-2 after 6 overs with Tripathi and Aiden Markram at the crease. The eight over by Andrew Tye went for 15 runs, including 3 smashing boundaries by Rahul Tripathi, who looked in an amazing touch. After 8 overs, SRH had reached 66-2.
Though Tripathi was doing well, Markram struggled at the other end. He seemed like an over-cautious child in a race and was dismissed by Krunal Pandya for 12 (13). SRH was again under pressure as Pooran joined the party.
The Lucknow bowlers found their rhythm perfectly in the middle overs keeping the SRH score to 95-3 after 13 overs. Pooran was struggling to get bat on ball, and when he did, he couldn’t middle it. The growing pressure disturbed Tripathi’s focus, and he holed out to deep mid-wicket on the bowling of Krunal. Washington Sundar arrived at number 6 for SRH.
After Tripathi’s fall, Pooran finally managed to ease a bit and smashed Krunal Pandya for a maximum over long-on. He hit Jason Holder for two fours in the next over to bring the SRH total to 120-4 after 15 overs. They needed only 50 from 30 and considering Pooran and Sundar were at the crease, it looked like an easy win for SRH.
The following two overs brought 17 runs, and Hyderabad needed 33 off 18. There were noise and cheers with fans of both sides biting their nails. KL Rahul went to his fastest bowler of the night, Avesh Khan, to bowl the 18th over.
His first ball was effortlessly hit by Pooran for a humongous six over mid-wicket. The pacer then made a fairytale comeback to take two wickets in two balls, dismissing Pooran and Abdul Samad. Romario Shepherd had joined Sundar in the middle, and the equation had suddenly turned upside down due to Khan’s over.
With 26 needed off the last two overs, it was anybody’s game. Andrew Tye began his final over of the night pretty well, giving away only 5 off the first 4 balls. However, the West Indian, Shepherd, smacked him over the long-on fence for a six.
The left-hander was dropped by Ravi Bishnoi at covers on the very next delivery. SRH required 16 from 6 to emerge victorious and Jason Holder had the ball in hand for the final over. He had a dreamy start, getting rid of Washington Sundar (18), caught by KL Rahul in the deep.
Holder took two more wickets in the next five deliveries, spending only three runs from the available balance as LSG won by 12 runs.
Best Performers for LSG
Though KL Rahul (68) was the highest run-scorer for his team, Deepak Hooda brought color to their innings. Hooda scored 51 off 33 balls, hitting 3 sixes and the same number of boundaries.
In the bowling department, there was a clear winner in Avesh Khan, who turned the game on its head in the 18th over. He took 4 wickets while giving away only 24 runs in his full quota.
Best Performers for SRH
SRH had little brilliance in batting, barring the innings of Rahul Tripathi, who notched 44 off 30 balls with five fours and a six.
T. Natarajan took two wickets for SRH going for 26 runs in his four overs.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Avesh Khan
SRH and LSG Upcoming Match
LSG will face the Delhi Capitals on 7th April, while Hyderabad will take on CSK on 9th April.
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