Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on Abhishek Sharma’s blitz to extinguish the last remaining embers of Lucknow Super Giants’ Playoffs hopes with a comprehensive six-wicket win at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Monday.
Asked to bat, LSG’s Mitchell Marsh first handed debutant Harsh Dubey a tough initiation to life in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and then welcomed Eshan Malinga by smacking the ball over deep backward square and onto the parked sponsor car. At least it wasn’t just the visitor’s morale getting dented.
Aiden Markram and Marsh, who brought up their fifth half centuries of the season, got reprieves in the space of nine balls. However, Sunrisers pegged back, sending back Marsh and Rishabh Pant in quick succession.
The slower ball was employed to good effect to squeeze the run flow. An eventful final over featuring three dismissals and two humongous sixes saw SRH hold back the host, but not enough to prevent another hefty 200-plus target.
Will O’Rourke, on IPL debut, gave LSG an early breakthrough by scalping Atharva Taide. Abhishek then threatened to give LSG and its fans another night to forget, one year after his blitzkrieg in Hyderabad.
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Abhishek Sharma (right) and Digvesh Rathi of Lucknow Super Giants having a discussion after the match.
| Photo Credit:
SANDEEP SAXENA
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Abhishek Sharma (right) and Digvesh Rathi of Lucknow Super Giants having a discussion after the match.
| Photo Credit:
SANDEEP SAXENA
Ravi Bishnoi bore the full brunt of his wrath. Four consecutive sixes – over long-off, long-on, straight down the ground and deep mid-wicket – not only helped Sunrisers take control of the proceedings but also gave Abhishek an 18-ball half century, the fourth time he has reached the mark in fewer than 20 balls, the joint-most in IPL with Nicholas Pooran. Digvesh Rathi brought an end to Abhishek’s assault with a googly and duly brought out the notebook, which led to a brief heated moment between the two. He then broke Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen’s 41-run stand when the former couldn’t time his reverse sweep and saw his wickets rattled.
Kamindu Mendis exacted revenge, smacking Digvesh for three fours on the trot, the highlight being a premeditated reverse sweep that sent the ball sailing between backward point and short-third. The semi-packed stands began to slowly clear out by the time Klaasen and Mendis were dismissed before Aniket Verma and Nitish Kumar wrapped up the win with 10 balls to spare.
