In the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 tournament, Krunal Pandya’s three-wicket haul and a 34-run knock helped Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) crush Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by five wickets. It is LSG’s second win of the season. The match was played at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
With skipper KL Rahul and Kyle Mayers, chasing a merely 122-run target, LSG got off to a quick start. They capitalized on every scoring opportunity.
By dismissing Mayers for 13 from 14 balls, afghan pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi tried to bring the Sunrisers back into the game.
In 6.2 overs, Krunal Pandya and Rahul took Lucknow’s total beyond the 50-run mark. In just 33 balls, the Rahul-Krunal duo notched up a 50-run partnership. In 12.1 overs, LSG reached the 100-run mark.
However, Umran Malik broke the partnership between the two. He dismissed Krunal Pandya (34 from 23 balls).
When just eight runs were needed to win, Adil Rashid gave a back-to-back blow to hosts Lucknow. He dismissed KL Rahul leg-before wicket for 35. And then he dismissed Romario Shepherd to a golden duck.
Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad (opting to bat first) did not get the best of the starts. Krunal Pandya dismissed opener Mayank Agarwal for just eight! In 7.4 overs, Anmolpreet Singh along with Rahul Tripathi took a total of SRH beyond the 50-run mark. To put SRH in further trouble, Ravi Bishnoi dismissed Harry Brook stumped by Nicholas Pooran (55/4).
To bring some sanity to the proceedings, Washington Sundar and Rahul Tripathi then struck a partnership.
The partnership of 39 runs, between the two batters, was broken when Yash Thakur dismissed Tripathi for 34 from 41 to a superb catch by Amit Mishra. Alas! SRH lost half of its side for 94. In 17.5 overs, Sundar (along with Abdul Samad) took SRH’s total beyond the triple-figure mark.
Brief scores of the match:
Sunrisers Hyderabad 121/8 in 20 overs [Rahul Tripathi 34 (41), Krunal Pandya 3/18, Amit Mishra 2/23]
vs
Lucknow Super Giants 127/5 in 16 overs [KL Rahul 35 (31), Krunal Pandya 34 (23), Adil Rashid 2/23]