IPL 2023: All-round Krunal Pandya Leads LSG's Spin-Choke of SRH
Krunal Pandya [Image- Twitter]
A brilliant all-round display from Krunal Pandya led Lucknow SuperGiants' emphatic display against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in Lucknow as the KL Rahul-led unit romped home in a one-sided affair.
Chasing a below-par total of 122, LSG got off to a brisk start as they raced to 35 runs in just 4.2 overs.
Fazalhaq Farooqi provided SRH with the first breakthrough after Kyle Mayers (13 off 14) ended up hitting the attempted pull shot straight to the deep square-leg fielder.
Deepak Hooda came out with clear intent as he danced down to Bhuvneshwar Kumar to loft him straight over his head, but the veteran pacer had the last laugh as he took a brilliant return catch after the former again tried to drive him down the ground.
But, it was Krunal Pandya's day! After bamboozling the SRH batters with his spin bowling, the southpaw proceeded to smash their spinners into oblivion, stroking some lusty blows against Adil Rashid and Aiden Markram.
Pandya smashed 4 fours and a six to race his way to a 23-ball 34 before he was dismissed by Umran Malik.
But, by then, the game had already been decided, and while Rashid knocked over Rahul and Romario Shepherd in successive deliveries to evoke some excitement, Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis ensured they got the job done.
LSG's spinners spin SRH batters into a tizzy
Lucknow SuperGiants [Image- Twitter]
Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad's innings never got going as their powerful batting-unit led by Aiden Markram failed to come to grip with the Lucknow SuperGiants spinners on a turning pitch at Ekana.
On a black soil pitch where there was clear evidence of turn and low bounce, LSG skipper KL Rahul brought Krunal Pandya in the attack as early as the 3rd over, and the move, on expected terms, paid dividends.
Krunal sent Mayank Agarwal (8 off 7) packing in his very first over after the opener tamely drove him straight to short cover.
Sunrisers were able to score 43 runs in the powerplay thanks to opener Anmolpreet Singh, whose 26-ball 31 was quite valuable given the nature of the surface, but the real problem started after the fielding restrictions eased up against Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi.
Just 7 runs came off the next 10 deliveries, and it ultimately led to a collapse as Krunal knocked over Anmolpreet and Markram on successive deliveries before Bishnoi had Harry Brook stumped, leaving SRH gasping for breath at 55/4.
Amit Mishra then continued the good work and started a spin choke, with Rahul Tripathi, who stuck around for 41 deliveries but could only manage 35 runs, and Washington Sundar (16 off 28) at the centre of it.
The veteran leggie pulled off a superb catch at short third-man to send Tripathi packing before dismissing Sundar and then Adil Rashid to finish with figures of 2/23 while Krunal ended up with even better numbers- 3/18 in 4 overs.
Abdul Samad smashed a few lusty blows in the end to take SRH to 121/8 in 20 but it was not enough on the day against a strong LSG batting line-up.
Brief Scores:
SRH- 121/8 (20)
Anmolpreet Singh - 31 (26), Rahul Tripathi - 35 (41)
Krunal Pandya - 3/18 (4), Amit Mishra - 2/23 (4)
LSG - 127/5 (16)
KL Rahul - 35 (31) , Krunal Pandya - 34 (23)
Adil Rashid - 2/23 (3), Fazalhaq Farooqi - 1/13 (3)
Result | LSG won by 5 wickets
 "Yash Mittal")
