SRH vs LSG

Shardul Thakur (Player of the Match, Lucknow Super Giants): I had made my plans. I had also signed for county, but during Ranji Trophy knockouts, Zaheer Khan called me and told me to stay switched on, and I could start if drafted as an injury replacement. It was a bad day in the auction that I didn't get picked by a franchise, but then something happened, be it life of cricket. I thought Abhishek and Head take their chances so I thought, why not take my chances as well. A bowler has very little help on such pitches, surfaces should be prepared in such a way that both bowlers and batters have an advantage. Shouldn't be such that the bowler looks at the scoreboard and then sees that 250-260 is the target 

Rishabh Pant (captain, Lucknow Super Giants): A big relief, and we spoke about taking one match at a time. It was a big concern, but our mentor said to look at the controlables. Good to see Avesh back and Prince and Shardul doing well. It was about giving freedom to him. We know what he can do down the order, and he is destructive once given freedom. Everyone is doing well, the group is coming on nicely and we are going to take it one match at a time 

Nicholas Pooran is the Orange Cap holder now, here is what he had to say: It's a bit big but it feels good. I don't plan to hit sixes, I just plan to get into good position and if it's in my area I try to go after that. It's about cashing in and execute on the match ups. It's a beautiful wicket to bat on. Obviously looking at the game before hand in Hyderabad, it is always going to be a high scoring game. If you don't lose early wickets in the powerplay here, it helps you. I have never worked on bat speed, I am blessed with incredible talent which has helped me over the years. Yeah I mean it's a really long tournament. It's nice to see Marsh showing class at the top of the order. We consult each other during our partnership and help our team win matches.

Pat Cummins (Sunrisers Hyderabad captain): Looked a different wicket the other day, the key is coming up with different plans each day but credit to them, they batted really well. Still a very good wicket. This was perhaps the second best wicket, the cutters gripped a bit on the surface. Every time it's a fresh gane, they bowled really well, they had their plans. We were unlucky with Klaasen and Ishan. We missed one person batting out the full innings like Ishan did the other day but we did well to get to 190. It's about playing it how it sees. Want impact from every batter, going out there and having impact on the game is key. You see things the way where we could have done better, bit like last game where you don't get too high. We will get another chance in a few days.

11:03 pm Lucknow Super Giants win, beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets

LSG: 193/5 (16.1 overs)
Nicholas Pooran: 70(26b) | Pat Cummins: 2/29 (3 overs)
Mitchell Marsh: 52(31b) | Harshal Patel: 1/28 (2 overs)

A first victory for Lucknow Super Giants in the season. They were anxious to get on the board, failed in the first game by a slender margin, but have come back and how. Sunrisers Hyderabad were expected to script a miracle, but they fell short of it and couldn't salvage a win, irrespective of the late wickets towards the end.

Chasing 191 wasn't going to be an easy ride, especially after losing a wicket early. But then Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran freed their arms and played their shots with gay abandon. The duo scored runs at a quick pace, with both batters getting to half-centuries in quick time. By the time the two had lost their wickets, they had prepared a platform for the others to steer the side home to a win. Then, Abdul Samad ended the game and took the side over the line.

Sunrisers Hyderabad did a good job with the bat in hand but couldn't replicate the same when it came to doing the same with the ball in hand. Pat Cummins led the way for the side, picking up two wickets and getting rid of the two most explosive batters. Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, and Adam Zampa picked up a wicket each but were expensive as well, with Simarjeet Singh and Abhishek Sharma taking a beating.

Let's now go down to see what the presentation ceremony holds for us

16.1 Ishan Kishan to David Miller, FOUR! That's a dominating win for LSG. A flighted tossed-up delivery a shade outside off from Kishan, Miller goes inside out and chips it over the extra cover fielder's head and finds the boundary. A great comeback from LSG. 

Timeout: Well, nothing much to add. LSG have sealed the contest, SRH need to recaliberate and look at their bowling performances to see how they can come back with the ball in their next game