Pooran smashes 70 off 26; Super Giants prevail over Sunrisers

Lucknow Super Giants secured an impressive and comprehensive five-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad to earn their first win in this year’s Indian Premier League.

Lucknow did well to limit Sunrisers’ destructive batting line-up to 190-9 and then cruised to their target with 3.5 overs to spare.

Nicholas Pooran crashed 70 from 26 balls and Mitchell Marsh hit a typically powerful 52 from 31.

Sunrisers piled up 286-6 against Rajasthan in their opening match but, with some predicting a score in excess of 300 on another flat pitch, were checked by the loss of regular wickets.

Seamer Shardul Thakur dismissed Abhishek Sharma for six and Ishan Kishan a duck in consecutive balls, while Travis Head threatened in hitting five fours and three sixes.

But Head was bowled by seamer Prince Yadav for 47 and contributions of 32 from Nitish Kumar Reddy, 26 from Heinrich Klaasen and 36 by Aniket Verma were not enough.

Shardul finished with 4-34 and is the tournament’s leading wicket-taker after eight matches, despite being unsold in the auction and being signed as a late injury replacement. (BBC)