Khan too much to handle as SRH succumb to second defeat

The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) defeated the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the eleventh game of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). The match was played in the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Avesh Khan was adjudged to be the Man of the Match.

Hooda starts the rescue

Washington Sundar, who had had a forgettable previous match, was spot on last night with his line and length. The 22-year-old, statistically, has been at his best when he bowls in the powerplay, and so captain Kane Williamson followed the numbers.

Sundar repaid the faith, getting two crucial wickets of Quinton de Kock and Evin Lewis and giving little to no chances for scoring. Romario Shepherd, too, entered the attack and, with much persistence, got rid of Manish Pandey.

With the top order being rocked so early on, captain Kananur Lokesh Rahul decided to hold back and anchor the innings. At the other end, however, Deepak Hooda soon found rhythm and started playing his shots more freely. Even when they could not get boundaries, the pair made sure the runs came at a steady flow with excellent running between the wickets and strike rotation.

Hooda emphatically stamped his authority in the 14th over as he whipped Umran Malik for 16 runs. Hooda soon reached his 50 off 31 balls, putting LSG on course for a strong finish.

Rahul the anchor

For the past two years, Rahul has been criticised for anchoring the innings rather than playing with freedom and lashing at the bowlers from the opposition. Yet with his team reduced to 27/3 within the 5th over, the Indian vice-captain had no option but to steady the ship.

That isn’t to say that he bogged the innings down. Rahul maintained the pressure on the opposition slowly by building a fantastic partnership with Hooda, who had stepped on the accelerator with a bit more intensity. Rahul soon reached his own half century, off 40 balls.

Despite being dismissed for 60, Ayush Badoni made use of the platform and took the Super Giants to a total of 169.

Khan’s day out

Avesh Khan, whom many had dubbed the find of last year, had had a pretty sedate start to this year’s tournament. However, he showed everyone once again just why he had been so impressed with him.

The Indian pacer took the big scalp of Williamson in the 4th over, rocking the Sunrisers’ chances early on. As if that wasn’t enough, he returned in the last over of the powerplay to get rid of Abhishek Sharma just when a partnership was being formed.

Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markram brought some stability to the batting, before Krunal Pandya dismissed both. Once again, SRH were shaken in the space of a few minutes. However, Nicholas Pooran and Sundar took the game by the scruff of the neck and an SRH victory seemed inevitable.

Rahul once again turned to Khan, who did not disappoint. He first got rid of Pooran, an incident that many considered to have been when the game swung in LSG’s favour. To add more misery, Khan then got rid of the hard hitting Abdul Samad, leaving SRH with one foot out the door for the night.

Tye and Holder’s experience too much for SRH lower order

Andrew Tye and Jason Holder are two of the most experienced death bowlers in Twenty-20 cricket going around. So, the pair was unsurprisingly given the responsibility of closing the game out for Lucknow.

With 26 required off 12 and Pooran back in the dugout, the bowling side were firm favourites to win the match. Tye made sure it stayed that way as he bowled with perfect accuracy and minimised pace on the ball, leaving the batters with virtually nothing. Shepherd brought some life back into the game for an extremely brief moment with a sensational swing for six off Tye’s 5th ball.

However, Holder sealed the game for LSG with his cunning deceptions in the final over, and even picked up 3 bonus wickets as rewards.