Pat Cummins achieved a rare feat while fellow Australians Travis Head and Mitch Marsh had big knocks overnight as Lucknow Super Giants easily chased down a target of 191 to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad for their first win of the new IPL season.
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Cummins, who also had two wickets in the loss, had a brief but efficient late cameo with the bat in hand for Hyderabad after hitting three consecutive sixes to open his knock.
MS Dhoni (vs Mumbai Indians, 2024), Nicholas Pooran (vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 2023) and Sunil Narine (vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, 2021) are the other three players to have achieved that feat in the IPL, according to ESPNcricinfo.
It wasn’t enough to save Hyderabad though, with Head’s 47 off 28 also in vain as Pooran slammed 70 off 26 balls to help Lucknow to a comfortable victory.
Pooran’s power-packed innings featured six fours and six sixes, as the West Indies batsman ruthlessly took the attack to the opposition on a flat Hyderabad pitch.
Australian Adam Zampa, brought into the game as Cummins’ impact sub, was no match for Pooran’s power as he was hit for 19 in his first over, going on to end the game 1-46 off four overs.
Lucknow, captained by the most expensive player in the IPL, India’s Rishabh Pant, lost Aiden Markram early before Mitchell Marsh (52) and Pooran put on 116 for the second wicket in barely seven overs together.
It was Marsh’s second-straight half-century, continuing a strong return from a back injury.
Pooran eventually fell lbw to Australia captain Pat Cummins, leaving his team on 120-2 in the ninth over.
Pant walked in with Lucknow well positioned but made a scratchy run-a-ball 15 before miscuing a full toss from Harshal Patel, following Marsh back after he was removed earlier by his international team-mate Cummins.
Lucknow also lost Ayush Badoni cheaply but Abdul Samad hit an unbeaten 22 off eight deliveries to help them cruise to victory with 23 balls remaining.
Lucknow had won the toss and restricted Hyderabad to 190-9 despite a brisk 47 at the top of the order from Head.
Shardul Thakur, who wasn’t initially picked up by any franchise and only received a call-up from Lucknow as an injury replacement, finished with his best IPL figures.
Thakur took 4-34 and landed a key double blow by dismissing opener Abhishek Sharma (6) and Ishan Kishan (0) with successive balls in the third over.
Head steadied the innings after Hyderabad slipped to 15-2 before a searing Prince Yadav delivery rearranged his stumps.
Thakur, who earned the player-of-the-match award, expressed his frustration, stating that “bowlers get very little (help) on these kinds of pitches” in the IPL.
“Even before the last game, I mentioned that pitches should be prepared in a way that keeps the contest balanced for both batters and bowlers. Especially with the ‘impact player’ rule in place, it feels unfair to the bowlers,” he remarked.
Several Hyderabad batsmen got starts but failed to capitalize, with Nitish Kumar Reddy chipping in 32 and Aniket Verma smashing a quickfire 36 after Heinrich Klaasen (17) was run out in a bizarre fashion at the non-striker’s end.
As Yadav reached for a low return catch from Reddy, he inadvertently deflected the ball onto the stumps, catching Klaasen out of his crease.
Cummins made a whirlwind 18 off just four balls, clearing the rope thrice, but his efforts went in vain as Hyderabad suffered their first defeat.
Pant described the victory as “definitely a big relief.”
“We’re focusing on taking it one match at a time, avoiding the highs of victory and the lows of defeat,” Pant commented.
He also commended Pooran, emphasizing, “We just want to give him the freedom to express himself. I enjoy that freedom too. He’s been batting phenomenally for us.”
