Cricket is an unbelievable game. In the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season, one of the teams that’s become a favourite this year is the Sunrisers Hyderabad, purely because of their explosive line-up.
Before their match against the yet to win Lucknow Super Giants, almost everyone expected the Pat Cummins led orange army to shine through and probably create history with their first 300 plus total this year.
SRH had posted 286 for 6 in their previous game, also in Hyderabad. Their campaign began with a dominant 44-run win against Rajasthan Royals. The previous season’s runners-up made an early impact by posting the league’s second-highest total.
However, with this match destiny certainly had other plans.
LSG post winning the toss, elected to bowl and the ever-confident skipper Rishabh Pant had made it evident that no matter what the total, his men will chase it down.
And well, surely, he lived up to his words. Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran’s half centuries gave LSG a five wicket win over SRH. Forget 300, SRH could not even score 200. They managed only 190 for 9 with Shardul Thakur picking up 4 for 34, his best figures in the IPL.
Though 190 is not a small total itself, but Nicholas Pooran made it look like a piece of cake. He smashed 70 off just 26 balls, hitting six fours and as many sixes on the way.
By the time SRH skip Pat Cummins caught him with a leg before wicket (lbw), the LSG players needed only 71 from 68 balls. Mitchell Marsh, who was playing a second fiddle to Pooran and made their chase pretty approachable.
Looking at how Pooran went all guns blazing across the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, bringing on a left-arm orthodox spinner to tackle Pooran in the middle was a perilous idea. But Cummins took that gamble and brought in Abhishek Sharma.
Pooran faced only two balls from him and smashed both for huge sixes. He didn’t spare Adam Zampa either, hitting him for two sixes and a four in the seventh over.
Pooran’s consistency off late has been the talk of the town. He has been living up to his name, justifying his hefty price tag of INR 21 crores, spent by LSG to include him in their squad. Performing exceptionally so far in IPL, the same Nicholas Pooran’s efforts haven’t got unnoticed as he was the leading run-scorer at last year’s T20 World Cup.
Off the first 20 balls Pooran faced, he hit five fours and six sixes, amassing 56 runs in just 11 deliveries. Though as the innings progressed, eventually Pooran lost his wicket. Soon after, the not in form captain Rishabh Pant and Ayush Badoni also fell prey to SRH’s bowlers along the way, but their victory was never in doubt.
Abdul Samad, a former SRH player, smashed an unbeaten 22 off eight balls to complete the pending runs.
LSG chasing down their target with 23 balls and five wickets to spare was truly like giving SRH a taste of their own medicine. They claimed their well-deserved two points and kickstarted their IPL 2025 campaign with a hard-earned victory.
The post Sunrisers Hyderabad Get a Taste of their Own Medicine as Pooran-Marsh Set up a Dominant Victory for LSG appeared first on Sportzcraazy.
from Cricket News & Updates | Today Cricket Rankings | Latest Match Schedule https://ift.tt/rqICQP0
via IFTTT
0 Comments