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Pooran, Shardul Help LSG Overcome SRH's Challenge With Ease
Follow UsLSG chased down 191 in just 16.1 overs to give SRH a taste of their own medicine. Here are the key talking points from the game
Shardul Thakur is inevitable
Shardul Thakur and his redemption stories are inevitable. Thakur picked two wickets for just 19 runs in the two overs he bowled in the first game of the season for his side.
Now in the second one, he dismissed two of the four most swashbuckling batters of the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batting lineup — Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan — on consecutive deliveries in the powerplay, ensuring SRH’s top order was restricted. His bowling figures of 4/34 in his four overs were a reward of coming really hard at the batters with his variations and hard to hit lengths.
Aniket Verma shines for SRH
Verma, a batter known for his spin hitting for Madhya Pradesh in the domestic circuit, was playing just his second game for the SRH. However, he batted as if he has always been there and smashed five sixes in 13 deliveries to score 36 runs. While no batter stayed long enough to help SRH over 200, they would take a lot of positives from Verma’s swashbuckling batting.
Pooran-Marsh kill the chase
Nicholas Pooran dished out a six-hitting spectacle, scoring 70 off just 26 in a 191-run chase against the home side.
Pooran’s hitting was extremely pristine throughout the innings, and especially against the spinners, he didn’t allow either of the two to settle. He also benefitted from the matchup being in his favour. On the other end, Mitch Marsh batted in spectacular fashion, too, and before Pooran got out in the 9th over, they had had a 116-run partnership in just 43 deliveries.
That killed the chase then and there, as LSG needed only 71 runs in 68 deliveries after Pooran’s dismissal and completed the chase in just 16.1 overs.
SRH have a bowling problem
SRH’s bowlers, be it the spinners or the pacers, looked hapless against the hitting of LSG batters and didn’t execute their plans. They were also hit for 242 in the first game by the Rajasthan Royals, and have now conceded 191 in just 16.1 overs.
Going ahead, it feels like SRH’s winning template would be heavily reliant on their batters, with their bowling coming into the picture only secondarily.
