Lucknow: Lucknow Super Giants bagged a couple of points from the fixture against Gujarat Titans beating the opposition by 33 runs.
Chasing 164 appeared to be an easy task considering the number of high-scoring matches taking place in the shortest format of the sport now-a-days. However, GT lost control of the things as soon as their both the openers, Shubman Gill (19) and Sai Sudharsan (31) departed back to the dressing room leaving the scoreboard at 58/3. Wickets kept falling after that and the remaining seven wickets were dismissed in a span of 72 runs. Yash Thakur was pick of the bowlers with his five-wicket haul.
Batting first, Marcus Stoinis played a knock of 58 runs for LSG to play a pivotal role in the team total of 163/5. Umesh Yadav and Darshan Nalkande picked a couple of wickets each.
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- Overs 16-18.5 (GT 130)
Rahul Tewatia kept fighting from one end but the wickets kept tumbling from the other end. The left-handed batter reduced the equation to 44 runs required from last 12 deliveries but Yash Thakur cleaned up him and Noor Ahmad to secure a victory for LSG. The team were chasing a low score but they never looked in control of the things after both the openers walked back to the pavilion. - Overs 11-15 (GT 93/7)
Krunal Pandya continues to take wicket as Darshan Nalkande holed one straight into the hands of Yash Thakur at fine-leg. It was an outstanding bowling performance from Krunal Pandya who finished his spell with 4-0-11-3. But then, Vijay Shankar smashed one into the deep mid-wicket region for a massive six against right-arm pacer Naveen ul Haq which increase some hope of revival from GT batters. Yash Thakur came out to the 15th over of the match and picked another wicket and this time its set batter Vijay Shankar. GT need some miraculous innings from Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan to win this one now. But, that doesn't happen as Rashid Khan lose his wicket in the same over. - Overs 7-10 (GT 67/4)
LSG bowlers have made an exceptional comeback taking three crucial wickets inside a couple of overs including Williamson, Sai Sudharshan, and BR Sharath. Ravi Bishnoi picked a blinder to get rid of Williamson and then Krunal Pandya forced Sai Sudharshan and BR Sharath to play a big shot and ended up giving a simple catch in the deep. The pressure is back on the visitors now and they must feel it. GT batters have scored only 13 runs off the last four overs. They need someone who can put LSg bowlers back under pressure with some clean hits and increase the run rate as they 96 off the last 10 overs with no recognised batter present in the dugout. - Overs 1-6 (GT 54/1)
Siddharth, who came out as an impact player, bowled a very tight line and lengths in the first over. Sai Sudharsan, who got promoted in the batting order after Wriddhiman Saha's unavailability, scored two boundaries one streaky and one fluent in an over. Siddharth bowled another tidy over and then Sudharshan hit a couple of boundaries against new pace sensation Mayank Yadav and Gill smashed one on the final ball of the over to accumulate 13 runs off his over. Siddharth bowled three no-balls in his third over in the powerplay but didn't let the batter hit a boundary against him. Still, 12 runs came from his over. Yash Thakur picked a wicket of GT skipper Shubman Gill on the final ball of the powerplay. Overall, despite losing a wicket of their skipper, GT have won the powerplay as they scored 54 runs in the powerplay in the chase of 164.
End of Lucknow Super Giants Innings
- Overs 16-20 (LSG 163/5)
Pooran-Badoni played two silent overs off Spencer Johnson and Rashid Khan respectively. They didn't take any risks and played safely, especially against Rashid Khan, who still has an over left. LSG batters need to shift gears from here if they want to achieve that 170-180 run mark. That's what they did in the over of Mohit Sharma as Nicholas Pooran smashed him for a six and then Ayush Badoni hit him for back-to-back boundaries. However, Rashid Khan then trapped Ayush Badoni in his plan and forced him to give a dolly to mid-wicket fielder in the deep. Nicholas Pooran continued to bat with intent and 11 runs on the four balls he faced in the over while Krunal Pandya took a single. Spencer Johnson nailed a couple of yorkers and kept Pooran guessing what's going to come next. He conceded only eight runs despite getting hit for a six on the second ball of the over. An exceptional display of pace bowling from the left-arm pacer kept LSG to 163/5 after their 20 overs. LSG must be disappointed with the target they have set as it is a below-par target. GT need 164 runs to win this clash and return to the winning track after facing a defeat in a cliffhanger against Punjab Kings. - Overs 11-15 (LSG 114/4)
Just when the LSG batters started to play their shots, both the set batters returned to the pavilion leaving their team into a deep trouble. KL Rahul tried to increase his scoring rate and went for a big shot towards cow corner and ended up giving sitter to Rahul Tewatia at long-on. Stoinis then took the charge and tried to smash Darshan Nalkande out of the park. He got successful on two occasions and completed his half-century, but holed one straight into the air and debutant wicket-keeper Sharath BR completed a catch. GT got successful in removing both set batters as the innings progresses in the slog overs. However, they have services of Nicholas Pooran and Krunal Pandya, who can still help them to reach a commendable total. Noor Ahmed finished his conceding only 22 run off his four overs. - Overs 7-10 (LSG 74/2)
Skipper KL Rahul welcomed the china-man spinner Noor Ahmed with a classic cut shot for a boundary. Rahul and Stoinis stitched a fifty partnership of 38 balls to help their side to recover from the early losses and to aim the target around the 180-run mark. However, GT bowlers didn't allow them to free their arms and didn't bowl a freebie to accumulate some runs as they continue to build pressure when they are not taking wickets. LSG need to increase their run-rate to achieve that 180-run mark especially KL Rahul should start to play some big hits - Overs 1-6 (LSG 47/2)
It was an eventful start of the match as Umesh Yadav claimed his first wicket, removing wicket-keeper batter Quinton de Kock and then GT lost a review taken for LBW against Devdutt Padikkal. The southpaw batter Devdutt Padikkal (7 off 7 balls) faced another failure, giving a simple catch to Vijay Shankar in the slips. Umesh Yadav was on a roll, picking two wickets in back-to-back overs. But then, KL Rahul took Spencer Johnson to the cleansers, scoring three boundaries off his second over and the stoinis hit Umesh Yadav for 12 runs in an over. Rashid Khan bowled his first over inside the powerplay and made both the batters struggle against him. Overall, the powerplay went to GT as they successfully took two wickets in the powerplay and restricted LSG under the 50-run mark. - Substitute
Lucknow Super Giants: Manimaran Siddharth, Deepak Hooda, Amit Mishra, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Arshad Khan
Gujarat Titans: Kane Williamson, Abhinav Manohar, Matthew Wade, Manav Suthar, Jayant Yadav - Playing XI
Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul(w/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Thakur, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mayank Yadav
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill(c), Sharath BR(wk), Sai Sudharsan, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Umesh Yadav, Spencer Johnson, Darshan Nalkande, Mohit Sharma - Toss
Lucknow Super Giants won the toss and opt to against Gujarat Titans.
