Sunrisers Hyderabad dominated the Lucknow SuperGiants with the new ball and then stunned them by scoring 166 in just 9.4 overs, the highest 10-over total in any Twenty20 match. With 14 points from 12 games, the decisive victory moved them up to No. 3 on the points table and provided them with much-needed net run rate support. So vicious was the hunt that LSG decided not to use their Impact Player at all.
People will say much, and rightly so, about the blistering batting of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma. They reached their fifties in 16 and 19 balls, respectively, and together scored a century inside the powerplay for the second time this IPL, marking the highest powerplay totals in T20 cricket history.
SRH set up the victory with the ball, led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar with figures of 4-0-12-2. He conceded only singles and shut down the top order of LSG, limiting them to just 66 runs in the first 11.2 overs. The uninterrupted partnership of 99 runs off 52 balls between Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran served as a stark reminder that the top order had been insufficiently adventurous.
After the powerplay, IPL rookie V Viyaskanth, a leg spinner from Sri Lanka, kept the lid on. Krunal Pandya added some excitement to the innings by hitting Jaydev Unadkat for the 999th and 1000th sixes of the competition. First, he hit a head-high slower bouncer with an amazing straight hook over a long throw. However, by the end of the evening, the moment was completely forgotten.
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Head and Abhishek Dominate with Explosive Partnership, Crushing LSG Plans
Though it was a sensible strategy, LSG attempted to take advantage of the sluggish pitch by giving the two left-hand openers K Gowtham’s offspin. But plans don’t really seem to matter when it comes to Head and Abhishek. Abhishek dismissed Yash Thakur in the second over after Head had taken Gowtham away for four in the first. Again, Thakur appeared to be bowling according to a good plan: bowl into the pitch with a deep-square leg and sweeper cover, but Abhishek dragged him in front of the square.
After repositioning the two men on the leg side, Abhishek cleared space and sliced the man through. Plans were completely irrelevant when they reached 25 in two overs.
Head and Abhishek just choose their locations and hit the ball there, regardless of the ball’s velocity, length, or field conditions. In all, that was the distance the ball traveled to reach the boundary every other ball. Choices ranged from Head’s extra-cover drive for six to finish the game, Abhishek’s lazy pick-up over wide long-on off Badoni’s offspin, and Head’s kneel-down six into the sight screen.
But no matter how hard you search, it would be difficult to locate a shot more spectacular than Head’s drive of Ravi Bishnoi for a massive six over long-off.
Abhishek finished with 75 off 28 and Head with 89 off 30. Among all LSG bowlers, Gowtham had the greatest economy, at 14.50.
Source – espncricinfo
