LUCKNOW, India, CMC – There were no significant fireworks from Lucknow Super Giants’ West Indies stars. Still, the hosts did enough to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in a low-scoring encounter here Friday.
Asked to chase 122 at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Super Giants got over the line with 24 balls remaining to top the Indian Premier League standings with four points from two wins in three outings.
Opener Kyle Mayers, with the fifties in his two previous innings, failed for the first time with 13 while Romario Shepherd suffered a first-ball ‘duck’ and Nicholas Pooran chipped in with an unbeaten 11 at the end.
Pooran finished the game in style, depositing left-arm seamer Thangarasu Natarajan over the ropes at backward square.
Earlier, Sunrisers scraped 121 for eight off their 20 overs after choosing to bat first, restricted by left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya who finished three for 18 from his four overs.
Rahul Tripathi top-scored with 34 from 41 balls, while opener Anmolpreet Singh struck 31 from 26 deliveries, with three fours and six, but Abdul Samad was the only other batsman to pass 20 with a 10-ball 21 not out, which included four and two sixes.
When Sunrisers lost three wickets for five runs to be 55 for four at the end of the ninth over, Tripathi put on 39 for the fifth wicket with Washington Sundar (16) to salvage the innings.
In reply, Mayers joined captain KL Rahul (35) in an opening stand of 35 before holing out to deep square in the fifth over.
Pandya, who lashed four fours and a six, then joined Rahul in a 55-run third wicket stand, laying the foundation for the successful run chase.
and then 