In the 57th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) beat Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 10 wickets at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
The Lucknow-based side won the toss and asked SRH to bowl first. The decision straightaway backfired as LSG only scored 27/2 in the powerplay. Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled three overs in the first six overs and only conceded seven runs. The likes of Shahbaz Ahmed, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth were also economical, which helped them restrict the visitors to just 165/4 in 20 overs.
What looked like a slow pitch, the home team dispelled the notion by reaching the target in just 9.4 overs. Both openers, Abhishek Sharma (75*) and Travis Head (89*), got off to explosive starts right from ball one. Sharma batted at a strike rate of 267.86 and hit six sixes and eight fours, while on the other hand, Head hammered eight fours and eight sixes, playing at a strike rate of 296.67. The Australian batter got to his fifty in just 16 balls, while the Punjab-based batter reached his milestone in just 19 balls. Both batters were astute with their assaults, ensuring that the destruction never stopped in Uppal.
Though KL Rahul (29) got some runs under his belt, he struggled a lot against swing bowling. In the powerplay, the unit had 16 dot balls. It was Nicholas Pooran‘s (48*) and Ayush Badoni‘s (55*) partnership of 99 runs, which took LSG to a decent total of 165/4 in 20 overs.
With the ball for SRH, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was at his best as he bowled 11 dot balls in total. He also picked up two wickets, while having an economy rate of just three. Pat Cummins also obtained a wicket.
With the ball, Krishnappa Gowtham‘s opening over, which saw him give up just eight runs, was the sole bright moment for LSG.
Travis Head was adjudged Player of the Match for his electrifying batting performance. With this result, SRH now have 14 points and are third on the points table.
Scorecard:
Lucknow Super Giants: 165/4, Overs 20, Ayush Badoni 55*, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/12
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 167/0, Overs 9.4, Travis Head 89*