The ruthless dominance of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, who produced lightning-fast fifties, helped Sunrisers Hyderabad post the quickest chase of a 160-plus total en way to a decisive 10-wicket victory against Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL encounter on Wednesday. Chasing a moderate mark of 166, Head (89 not out, 30 balls, 8×4, 8×6) and Sharma (75 not out, 28 balls, 8×4, 6×6) tormented LSG bowlers, hitting boundaries and sixes at leisure to cruise home in 9.4 overs. The victory catapulted SRH to third place in the rankings with 14 points from 12 games, while LSG is suffering in sixth place with 12 points from the same amount of matches.
The outcome also means that five-time winners Mumbai Indians, who are presently eighth with eight points from 12 games, are eliminated from the play-off campaign. Head and Sharma’s destructive dance left the great Sachin Tendulkar in awe.
“To say that tonight’s opening partnership was damaging is an understatement. Tendulkar commented on his X account, “If these boys had batted first, they would have scored 300.”
The Head and Sharma performance came after SRH bowlers started beautifully before losing their way a little. Ayush Badoni (55 not out off 30 balls) and Nicholas Pooran (48 not out off 25 balls) fashioned an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 95 runs off 55 balls to lead LSG to a challenging 165 for four on a slow ground.
However, after bludgeoning 107 runs in the Power Play, Head and Sharma eliminated any trace of competition from the contest.
The Indo-Australian combo put on an incredible hitting show, clobbering every LSG bowler and covering the entire ground.
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LSG’s choice to start with Krishnappa Gowtham also backfired, as both Head and Sharma, who are excellent against spin, demolished the off-spinner.
The attack was so savage that Yash Dayal, Ravi Bishnoi, and Naveen-ul-Haq were all brought to the cleaners. Earlier, LSG was suffering at 27 for 2 at the end of the powerplay after deciding to bat.
In the third over, the visitors lost Quinton de Kock, who had replaced an injured Mohsin Khan, to a superb catch by Nitish Kumar Reddy at deep backward square leg off Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Bhuvneshwar struck again in the fifth over, eliminating the dangerous Marcus Stoinis, but the credit should go to teenager Sanvir Singh, who made a superb diving catch at mid-on. The pitch also didn’t assist LSG’s case because the ball came on to the bat a little slowly, making it tough for their batters to get the timing.
While captain KL Rahul (29) kept one end up, Krunal Pandya (24) took it upon himself to raise the stakes. Krunal pummeled Jaydev Unadkat for a six over long-on before hitting the bowler clean over his head for another maximum, accumulating 15 runs in the ninth over.
Rahul smashed the first boundary of the LSG innings in the tenth over, blasting SRH captain Pat Cummins over mid-off. But Rahul never looked like his normal self as he battled to find his timing and eventually left in pursuit of fast runs, being caught by T Natarajan at deep backward square leg on the final delivery of the same over.
SRH performed admirably on the field, as Cummins’ straight throw from midfield sent Krunal packing as the batter attempted a short single.
Badoni pressed the throttle quickly, scoring three boundaries off left-arm pacer Natarajan’s 14th over, which gave 17 runs. The Lucknow side finally got going, with Pooran and Badoni hitting sixes and fours in the 15th over, bowled by leg-spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth.
They shown intent from the start and did not hesitate to use their strokes when the opportunity arose. Badoni batted brilliantly, sweeping and cutting Natarajan for two consecutive boundaries in the 17th over. Badoni’s audacious strokes helped him reach fifty in 28 balls.
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