HYDERABAD, India (AP) — Shardul Thakur dismantled the batting powerhouse of Sunrisers Hyderabad with 4-34 and Nicholas Pooran hit the season’s fastest half-century to lead Lucknow Super Giants to a five-wicket win in the Indian Premier League on Thursday.
Thakur’s early strikes included the wickets of big-hitters Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan on successive deliveries and helped pin down Hyderabad to 190-9 after Lucknow captain Rishabh Pant won the toss and elected to chase.
Pooran’s blistering 70 off 26 balls then motored Lucknow to 193-5 in 16.1 overs with Mitchell Marsh, coming in as impact player at the top-order, scoring 52 off 31 balls.
Pooran and Marsh seal the game
Mohammed Shami had Aiden Markram caught at mid-off off his fourth ball in Lucknow’s run-chase before Pooran and Marsh featured in a brisk 116-run stand off just 43 balls.
Pooran completed his half-century off 18 balls with a swept six against Adam Zampa as Lucknow sprinted to 96-1 in just seven overs.
Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins trapped Pooran leg before wicket with a full pitched delivery from round the wicket, before his countryman Marsh completed his 50 with back-to-back boundaries against him.
Marsh fell soon afterward to Cummins when he holed out to long-on. Pant (15) sliced a catch to short third man and Ayush Badoni was spectacularly caught by Harshal Patel, who ran from mid-wicket and dived in time to pluck a brilliant catch.
Abdul Samad looked in a hurry when he smacked two sixes and two fours in his quickfire 22 off eight balls as Lucknow recorded its first win after losing to Delhi Capitals in their opener.
Thakur dominates; Aniket Verma impresses
Thakur had earlier took the sting out of Hyderabad’s explosive top-order batting lineup with the wickets of Sharma and Kishan, who had scored a century against Rajasthan Royals last weekend.
Pooran was placed perfectly at deep square leg and Abhishek fell in the trap of a short ball while Kishan feathered a leg side catch of the first ball he faced of the fast bowler before Nitish Kumar Reddy survived the hat-trick ball.
Travis Head didn’t get bogged down with the fall of two early wickets and made 47 off 28 balls but couldn’t capitalize on a dropped catch before he was clean bowled by Prince Yadav (1-29) in the eighth over.
Hyderabad struggled to put up partnerships thereafter despite Aniket Verma smashing five sixes in his brisk 36-run knock off 13 balls as Thakur claimed two more wickets in his return spell to pin down Hyderabad at the same venue where it amassed 286 runs against Rajasthan last Sunday.
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The Associated Press
