IPL: Super Giants bounce back with five-wicket victory over Sunrisers

Lucknow Super Giants bounced back to winning ways in the Indian Premier League as they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in a five-wicket victory on Friday.

The hosts recovered from their 12-run loss to Chennai Super Kings on Monday with an excellent all-round performance at BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium.

Having lost the toss and been put into field, a ruthless bowling attack led by Krunal Pandya’s superb 3-18 off four overs seriously restricted the visitors.

Despite solid knocks from Anmolpreet Singh (31) and Rahul Tripathi (34), the loss of captain Aiden Markram (0) and Harry Brook (3) saw the Sunrisers labour to 55-4 after nine overs.

The Super Giants continued to keep the overall runrate to a soft 6.05 per over, ultimately holding their opponents to a final total of 121-8, the lowest score of the IPL season so far.

A sharp start with the bat in response from openers Kyle Mayers (13) and KL Rahul (35) suggested Lucknow’s subsequent chase would be something of a formality.

Wickets for Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-19) and Fazalhaq Farooqi (1-13) sparked hope of a top-order wobble though, with Deepak Hooda (7) caught and bowled by the former.

But backed for a 55-run third-wicket stand by Pandya (34), Rahul steered his side to the brink of victory, with Adil Rashid (2-23) and his late scare not enough to derail their score of 127-5.

Pandya turns screw early on

With Singh and Tripathi both offering strong resistance, it was imperative the Super Giants cut off the rest of their top order threat before they could get going.

The former’s dismissal, immediately followed by Markram’s duck in a devastating two-ball spell, saw Pandya get his side firmly on top in this game.

Rashid reinforces credentials

There has not been too much doubt over the England man’s place in the national white-ball set-up ahead of this year’s World Cup defence.

Nevertheless, his blistering late stint, where he claimed Rahul and Romario Shepherd in consecutive deliveries, will do him no harm as he pushes to cement his spot. (SportsMax)