It was a night to remember for Krunal Pandya. After his mesmerising spell (three for 18) which strangulated Sunrisers Hyderabad and restricted it to a below-par total (121 for eight), the left-hander played a cameo knock (34) that saw Lucknow Super Giants register a five-wicket win in the IPL (Indian Premier League) match at the Ekana Cricket stadium in Lucknow on Friday.
Krunal scored the majority of runs in the 55-run stand with skipper KL Rahul (35) that took Super Giants closer to victory. Adil Rashid’s double strike came a bit too late for Sunrisers, who succumbed to their second straight defeat.
In the PowerPlay, Rahul and Kyle Mayers (13) chose their attacking moments judiciously as Super Giants cantered off to a good start. Though Mayers and Deepak Hooda (7) fell cheaply, Krunal stepped in to neutralise the threat from Rashid. He lofted Rashid over long-on for a six to show his intent and punished the odd loose deliveries to pile his runs.
Nearing victory, Super Giants lost three quick wickets but Nicholas Pooran clubbed T. Natarajan for a six to signal victory for the host.
Earlier, Super Giants’ spinners extracted maximum help from the slow and low bounce wicket to choke Sunrisers’ batters, which had the visitors ending up with a mediocre total of 121 for eight.
Krunal was the standout bowler for Super Giants. Amit Mishra (two for 23) and Ravi Bishnoi (one for 18) played the support cast well as the spin trio gave away only 59 runs from 12 overs.
Opener Mayank Agarwal (8) was an early victim to the vagaries of the pitch when he chipped Krunal straight to Marcus Stoinis at extra-cover off a delivery which stopped on to him.
Anmolpreet’s (31) luck with DRS ran out as he was trapped in front by Krunal before the latter cleaned up Aiden Markram for a golden duck. Sunrisers slipped further when Bishnoi lured Harry Brooks (3) out from his crease for Pooran to do the stumping.
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