Avesh to the fore in LSG win
Pacer bags 4 wickets, Holder takes 3 in final over to help Lucknow beat SRH by 12 runs
NAVI MUMBAI: There was fierce bidding for Avesh Khan before Lucknow Super Giants spent ₹10 crore to bring him on their roster. On Monday at the DY Patil Stadium he showed that the burden of the price tag didn’t pull him down as he scalped four for 24, including a double strike in the 18th over, to help Super Giants pull off a 12-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Chasing a target of 170, Sunrisers were soon down to 38/2 with Khan dismissing both openers—skipper Kane Williamson (16) and Abhishek Sharma (13). Rahul Tripathi’s cameo (40-30b) had been the launch pad for Sunrisers to chase the target with some hard-hitters to come down the order but Khan was standing in their way.
Nicholas Pooran (34-24b) had launched Khan’s first ball for a huge six over mid-wicket. Any other bowler would have crumbled under pressure. Over the last two IPLS Khan has shown that he thrives under pressure and he did after being hit by Pooran. The ball was a dot before he had Pooran holing out to longoff fielder Deepak Hooda.
Khan then had Abdul Samad caught behind for a duck to break the back of the Sunrisers’ chase. They were till that point in control of the match. Jason Holder then took three wickets in the 20th over, dismissing Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Washington Sundar and Romario Shephard to make sure SRH didn’t mount any last over heroics.
Earlier, it looked like Sunrisers bowlers had done enough to restrict Super Giants for 169/7. It started with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0/25) and Washington Sundar (2/28) in the powerplay— both combining to concede just 17 runs in the first four overs with Sundar dismissing Quinton de Kock (1) and Evin Lewis (1).
It was a brilliant comeback for the Sunrisers bowlers after they were hit around the park in their tournament opener by Rajasthan Royals and went on to concede 210/6 before a batting collapse saw them lose by 61 runs.
But LSG skipper KL Rahul (68-50b) and Deepak Hooda (51-33b) joined forces at 27/3 in the fifth over, made a cautious start before stitching an 87-run partnership for the fourth wicket which took Super Giants to a decent total, which at one point looked doubtful, especially when they had scored 48 runs off the first nine overs.
They started to open their shoulders by the 10th over as they took Umran Malik to the cleaners—20 coming off that over. But as they started to flex their muscles they perished. Hooda holed out to mid-wicket off Shepherd while Rahul was trapped leg before by T Natarajan.
In the end, it was the approach of the batters that decided the match in Super Giants’ favour. While Rahul and Hooda paced their innings well, Sunrisers batsmen failed to do so, especially after getting a good start.
It was Super Giants’ second victory on the trot after losing the opener against fellow newcomers Gujarat Titans. In the previous match, they had chased down 200-plus against Chennai Super Kings.
Brief scores: LSG 169/7 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 68, D Hooda 51; T Natarajan 2/26). Sunrisers Hyderabad 157/9 in 20 overs (R Tripathi 44; A Khan 4/24, J Holder 3/34).