Pooran blasts 13-ball 44 to hand Lucknow seven-wicket win against Sunrisers

Nicholas Pooran (right) and Prerak Mankad celebrate Lucknow Super Giants’s win v Sunrisers Hyderabad in Hyderabad on Saturday. Pic/PTI

The home jinx continued to haunt Sunrisers Hyderabad as Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) raced away to a seven-wicket victory at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Saturday. The home team succumbed to their seventh defeat and their slim hopes for a Playoffs place evaporated even as LSG boosted their chances with their sixth win.

The architect of LSG's win was Prerak Mankad (64 not out; 45 balls, 7x4, 2x6) and aggressive left-hander Nicholas Pooran (44 not out, 13 balls, 3x4, 4x6) who silenced the home crowd by blitzing their way to 23-ball 58 run-stand to dash SRH's hopes.

SRH's top order disappointed again, but the reliable Henrich Klaasen (47; 29b, 3x4, 3x6) and the combative Abdul Samad (37 not out; 25b, 1x4, 4x6) rallied the home team to 182-6. Chasing 183 for a win, LSG coasted home in 19.2 overs.

Early breakthrough for SRH

SRH got an early breakthrough with left-handed opener Kyle Mayers back in the pavilion in the fourth over, courtesy a brilliant diving catch by skipper Aiden Markram at mid-on off part-time bowler Glenn Phillips. The hosts' bowlers were tight at the start and LSG struggled at 30 for 1 at the end of Powerplay.

Quinton de Kock was not at his fluent best and was out for a 19-ball 29. The left-hander tried to reverse sweep leg spinner Mayank Markande and was caught at point.

Mankad, who came in place of out-of-form Deepak Hooda, and Marcus Stoinis rebuilt the LSG innings. Left-arm spinner Abhishek Sharma may have broken the third wicket pair, but in the process, was hit for as many as five sixes (31 runs in the 16th over), two by Stoinis and three by Pooran.

The match surely turned in favour of LSG with that Aussie-Windies onslaught. LSG needed 69 runs in the last five overs and they accomplished it in style; Mankad playing a well-paced innings to guide LSG to victory.

Also Read: Samad was desperate to prove his worth to the team: SRH batting coach Badani

Electing to bat, SRH lost two wickets in the Powerplay with opener Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi falling to short balls. LSG had kept SRH batters at bay and the home team's first six came only in the ninth over when Markram hit leg-spinner Amit Mishra over long-on. But the wily Mishra deceived Anmolpreet (36 off 27 balls) in the air and had him caught and bowled.

Markram and Heinrich Klaasen took SRH to 115 before left-arm spinner Pandya, who after change of ends, claimed two wickets off successive deliveries to put LSG on top. Markram was stumped while last-match hero Phillips was bowled.

The hard-hitting duo of Klaasen and Samad had to salvage SRH with a sixth wicket stand of 58 runs off 30 balls. Klaasen, who has been the main scorer for SRH this season, played a blazing knock yet again. He struck two successive sixes off Mishra. Coming at No.7, Samad hit hard and long to shore up the SRH innings.

Unruly crowd

Play was stopped for six minutes in the 19th over when a spectator threw a hard object on LSG fielder Mankad, who was fielding at long-on at the pavilion end.
Ironically, the same fielder held Klaasen at the same position. Pandya was LSG best bowler, but the two leg spinners - Mishra and Ravi Bishnoi - leaked 63 runs in
six overs.

Brief scores
SRH 182-6 (H Klaasen 47, A Singh 36, A Markram 28; K Pandya 2-24) lost to LSG 185-3 in 19.2 overs (P Mankad 64', N Pooran 44', M Stoinis 40, Q de Kock 29) by seven wickets