Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers started brilliantly before losing the plot as Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran joined hands to guide Lucknow Super Giants to a competitive 165 for four on a sluggish pitch in an Indian Premier League match here Wednesday.
Electing to bat, LSG were in all sorts of trouble at 66 for 4 in 11.2 overs before Badoni (55 not out off 30 balls) and Pooran (48 not out off 25 balls) stitched crucial 95-runs off 55 balls for the unbeaten fifth-wicket stand.
LSG were struggling at 27 for 2 at the end of the powerplay.
The visitors lost Quinton de Kock, who replaced an injured Mohsin Khan, failed to deliver, caught brilliantly by Nitish Kumar Reddy at deep backward square-leg off Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/12) in the third over.
Bhuvneshwar struck again in the fifth over, dismissing the dangerous Marcus Stoinis but the credit for the dismissal goes to young Sanvir Singh, who took a stunning diving catch just inches from the ground at mid-on.
The pitch also didn’t help LSG’s cause as the ball was a bit slow and was stopping, as their batters found it difficult to find timing.
While skipper KL Rahul (29) held one end up, Krunal Pandya (24) took it on himself to up the ante.
Krunal pummelled Jaydev Unadkat for a six over long-on and then hit the bowler straight over his head for another maximum to accumulate 15 runs in the eighth over.
Rahul hit the first boundary of LSG innings in the 10th over, slamming SRH skipper Pat Cummins over mid-off.
But Rahul never looked at his usual best as he struggled to get his timing and finally departed in search of quick runs, caught by T Natarajan at deep backward square leg in the final delivery of the same over.
SRH were brilliant on the field as Cummins’ direct throw from mid-on sent Krunal packing soon when the batter went for a quick single single.
Badoni pressed the feet on accelerator soon with three boundaries of left-arm pacer Natarajan’s 14th over which yielded 17 runs.
The Lucknow side finally got going as Pooran and Badoni struck a six and a four to accumulate 12 runs off the 15th over bowled by leg-spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth.
They showed their intent from the word go and didn’t hesitate to play their strokes when the opportunity was presented to them.
It was brilliant batting from Badoni as he swept and cut Natarajan for two consecutive boundaries in the 17th over with the deck seemed to have got better.
Badoni displayed some cheeky shots as the right-hander notched up his fifty in 28 balls.
PTI
