Indian Premier League newbies Lucknow Super Giants continued their winning form after clinching a roller-coaster encounter against 2016 champions Sunrisers Hyderabad, who slumped to a second straight defeat.
LSG skipper KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda did superbly with the bat after an initial collapse of sorts, while Avesh Khan and Krunal Pandya delivered two excellent spells to seal a hard-fought victory for the newbie franchise. The Sunrisers, who were also looking destined for victory at various points during the match, could not really capitalise on the openings they got against the Super Giants, eventually losing the fixture by a margin of just 12 runs.
Sunrisers captain Kane Williamson won the all-important coin toss and decided to field, an increasingly common decision among the captains of all the franchises, considering that the drop in temperature brings the dew factor into play in a decisive manner. The Sunrisers also got off to a wonderful start, as they used Washington Sundar in a perfect match-up based manoeuvre as he bowled to Quinton de Kock during the powerplay.
The South African was unable to deal with the left-arm spinner, as he ended up giving Williamson a regulation catch at cover. The Super Giants surprisingly decided to keep the left-right combination, promoting Lewis instead of bringing in Manish Pandey against Sundar in the powerplay, a decision that immediately backfired, as Lewis survived two close LBW shouts before falling to the third.
Veteran Manish Pandey also walked back after a disappointing dismissal, following a promising start. Rahul and the dynamic Deepak Hooda were tasked with rebuilding the falling Lucknow innings, and they delivered what was required, taking some time to settle in before playing the expansive shots.
Indian Premier League 2022: leading run-scorers
| Name | INN | Runs | SR |
| Ishan Kishan (Mumbai Indians) | 2 | 135 | 148.35 |
| Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals) | 2 | 135 | 140.62 |
| Deepak Hooda (Lucknow Super Giants) | 3 | 119 | 142.12 |
| Shivam Dube (Chennai Super Kings) | 3 | 109 | 165.15 |
| KL Rahul (Lucknow Super Giants) | 3 | 108 | 140.25 |
Rahul was compelled to go back to the role of the anchor that had become characteristic of him in the last two seasons, while Hooda was more of the aggressor. The two added 87 for the fourth wicket before Hooda walked back for 51. Rahul followed suit a few deliveries later, while the promising Ayush Badoni played another crucial cameo to take his side to 169 at the end of 20 overs.
With 170 runs to chase, the Sunrisers would have expected themselves to chase down the score. However, the openers could not get a start yet again, with Williamson getting dismissed in an unfortunate fashion to Avesh Khan, following which the bowler picked up the skipper’s opening partner as well in his subsequent over.
Rahul Tripathi added some crucial runs in the middle phase with Aiden Markram. Markram did not contribute much to the partnership but stuck around with Tripathi till his eventual dismissal for a 14-ball 12.
Tripathi also departed soon after, as the game seemed to take another turn, this time in favour of the Super Giants. Krunal Pandya was behind the dismissal of both the set batsmen, as the Baroda man swung the game firmly in his side’s favour.
Windies keeper Nicholas Pooran and Sundar did a commendable job of getting the Sunrisers back into the game in a big way, largely thanks to a few big hits courtesy Pooran as Sundar did a good job rotating the strike. Pooran and Sundar’s partnership meant that the equation came to 33 in 18 balls with momentum firmly with the Orange Army.
Pooran began Avesh Khan’s 18th over with a huge six, and that’s where the match took its final turn, as the young pacer picked up two in two to dismiss Pooran and Abdul Samad. Avesh’s wonderful spell of 4/24 set it up perfectly for Jason Holder to pick up three wickets in the final over, as the Super Giants wrapped up the game by 12 runs, giving them their second victory in three games, a good start for the new franchise.
Brief scores
Lucknow Super Giants 169 for 7 (Rahul 68, Hooda 51, Natarajan 2-26, Washington 2-28, Shepherd 2-42) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 157 for 9 (Tripathi 44, Pooran 34, Avesh 4-24, Holder 3-34) by 12 runs
