Hyderabad: At 89/2 in 13 overs and with an asking rate in excess of 13, chasing down 183 was looking very bleak for Lucknow Super Giants. With the equation reading 94 off 42 balls, the second time-out was taken.
Post that, Prerak Mankad, Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis changed gears in a display of unbelievable big-hitting to take the side to a seven-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad with four balls to spare at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Saturday.
While Mankad top-scored with an unbeaten 64 off 45 balls to be the anchor of the chase, Pooran was at his blazing best to be 44 not out off 13 balls while Stoinis made up for a slow start to score 40 off 25 balls.
Stoinis and Pooran were pivotal in bringing the turning point of the match, smashing 31 runs in the 16th over bowled by Abhishek Sharma. With the win ending a three-game winless streak, Lucknow are now in fourth place in the points table with 13 points, while Hyderabad’s playoffs hopes look bleak.
Chasing 183, Lucknow’s opening pair of Quinton de Kock and Kyle Mayers were kept quiet in the first three overs by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Fazalhaq Farooqui. The mounting pressure got to Mayers, who tried to break free by trying to loft over mid-on against Glenn Phillips, where Aiden Markram dived to his right to complete the catch.
Despite Mankad hitting a couple of fours off Phillips and Fazalhaq Farooqi, Hyderabad never let the pressure evaporate as Lucknow ended the Power-play at 30/1. Quinton de Kock tried to up the ante with two fours and a six off Mayank Markande.
But the leg-spinner had the last laugh as his googly took the top edge off the left-hander’s reverse sweep and was caught by a backward point in the ninth over. Mankad and Stoinis got a four each off the spinners, but it was followed by a brief period where the duo were unable to connect with deliveries as Hyderabad cleverly changed pace and lengths.
Mankad finally made the connection when he lofted off Farooqui for four before Stoinis punched off him for a boundary as 14 runs came off the 13th over. Immediately after the timeout, Mankad smashed and pulled Markande for six and four respectively before reaching his maiden IPL fifty in 35 balls.
Stoinis muscled Bhuvneshwar over long-on for six, before smashing two towering sixes over Abhishek’s head. But the left-arm spinner bounced back on the third ball of the 16th over as Stoinis holed out to long-off.
Pooran got going from the word go, slog-sweeping over wide long-on for a 105m six, followed by slamming down the ground and bringing out another slow-sweep for two more maximums as 31 runs came off the over.
Mankad continued the boundary-hitting party by launching Natarajan over long-off for six and getting an outside edge run past the keeper for four in the 17th over, followed by Pooran hitting Bhuvneshwar for consecutive fours through the off-side in the 18th over.
After pulling a full toss from Natarajan over mid-wicket for six, Pooran finished off the chase by flicking Farooqui through fine-leg for four to take Lucknow over the line in stunning fashion.
Brief scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad 182/6 in 20 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 47, Abdul Samad 37 not out; Krunal Pandya 2-24) lost to Lucknow Super Giants 185/3 in 19.2 overs (Prerak Mankad 64 not out, Nicholas Pooran 44 not out; Glenn Phillips 1-10, Mayank Markande 1-39) by 7 wickets
(IANS)
