HYDERABAD: Lucknow Super Giants bagged a crucial win by beating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday.
They bounced back with a victory after two defeats and no result.
Prerak Mankad made his mark with a crucial unbeaten knock of 64(45)* which played a crucial role in LSG’s victory and helped the team maintain its fourth position in the IPL table.
Along with this, impactful knocks from Marcus Stoinis (40 off 25) and Nicholas Pooran (44* off 13) ignited a remarkable comeback for LSG to achieve a seven-wicket win.
Chasing 183, Lucknow Super Giants suffered a blow early as they lost Kyle Mayers in the fourth over with just 12 on the board. Mayers struggled to get going with 2(13) and then mistimed one to mid off where captain Markram pulled off a brilliant diving catch.
SRH bowlers kept a tight check on the scoring rate. Prerak Mankad provided some relief in the LSG dugout with two consecutive fours off Fazalhaq Farooqi as LSG reached 30/1 at the end of the powerplay.
Quinton de Kock looked in top form as he struck a four and a six off Mayank Markande but the wily spinner bounced back to send back the South African batter in his next over as he top-edged his reverse sweep. He went back to the pavilion for a score of 29(19).
Things slowed down again as LSG reached 68/2 at the halfway mark.
With 108 needed off 48 and the required run rate climbing above 13, Mankad and Stoinis stepped up scoring as they took 14 of Farooqi over and then Mankad smacked a six and a four of Markande to make it 28 in two overs.
Stoinis continued to deal in sixes as he smacked three more including two of Abhishek Sharma but the SRH all-rounder bounced back to have him caught at long off for 40(25).
Pooran arrived and took off with three sixes in a row to finish a roller-coaster over as LSG accumulated 31 of the over to bring the equation down to 38 of 24 balls.
T Natarajan started the 17th over well giving away just four of the first four balls but Mankad finished the over with a six and a four to bring the equation down to 24 of 18 balls.
LSG again finished another over well as Pooran cracked a back to back fours of Bhuvneshwar Kumar who had conceded just two runs of the first four balls. With 14 needed of 12, Natarajan again started off well giving away just three singles of the first four balls.
However, Pooran thumped a muscular pull over deep mid-wicket for a six to make it a 10-run over.
With four needed off the final over, Pooran heaved the first ball to deep mid-wicket off Farooqi where Phillips put in a brilliant dive to save two runs. But with two needed of the last ball, Pooran flicked the next one wide of short fine leg for a four for another last over finish in the tournament.
Earlier SRH started their batting slow and steady but their first wicket came early in the 2.1 over when Yudhvir Singh dismissed Abhishek Sharma at seven off five balls.
After losing an early wicket, Rahul Tripathi and Anmolpreet Singh tried to steer the innings. In the 5th over, the duo attacked Avesh Khan to accelerate the run rate. They collected 18 runs in his over.
But LSG’s bowler Yash Thakur soon picked Tripathi’s scalp, who was batting on 20 off 13 balls.
After the end of the powerplay, SRH were 56/2. Aiden Markram 0* and Anmolpreet Singh 25*.
Anmolpreet was keeping his wicket from the other end but Amit Mishra caught and bowled him with his magical spin bowling.
SRH reached the 100 runs mark in 10.5 overs.
SRH were coping with their third wicket when LSG skipper Krunal Pandya delivered a brilliant 13th over spell, dismissing two batters in consecutive balls.
Heinrich Klaasen took the responsibility to hit some boundaries for SRH, he picked Amit Mishra’s bowler and struck two consecutive sixes in the 16th over.
Klaasen and Samad added 50 run partnership for the 6th wicket in 36 balls.
Klaasen was dismissed in the 19th over after Prerak Mankad caught him on the boundary of Avesh Khan’s bowl. He scored 47 off 29 balls.
SRH posted 182/6 after 20 overs.
Pandya was the pick of the bowler for LSG as he took two wickets conceding 24 runs. Yudhvir Singh, Avesh Khan, Yash Thakur and Amit Mishra took one wicket each.
Brief Scores: Lucknow Super Giants (Prerak Mankad 64(45)*, Nicholas Pooran 44(13) and Glenn Phillips 1/10) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad and Sunrisers Hyderabad 182/6 (Heinrich Klaasen 47, Abdul Samad 37, Krunal Pandya 2/24) vs Lucknow Super Giants. (ANI)