Shami’s Early Burst Rocks SRH
Sunrisers Hyderabad endured a nightmare start after being put in to bat, collapsing to 35/4 inside the first 10 overs. Mohammed Shami was the chief destroyer, returning exceptional figures of 4-0-9-2, including 18 dot balls that choked the scoring.
The veteran pacer removed the dangerous opening pair of Abhishek Sharma (0) and Travis Head (7) with clever variations, while Prince Yadav cleaned up Ishan Kishan (1) with a sharp in-swinger. Liam Livingstone’s struggle at the crease only compounded SRH’s woes as they slipped to 26/4 early on.
Klaasen, Reddy Script Stunning Recovery
With the innings in disarray, Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy engineered a remarkable turnaround. The duo stitched together a crucial 116-run partnership for the fifth wicket, shifting the momentum dramatically. After a cautious phase, the pair switched gears, launching a counterattack that saw SRH plunder 79 runs between overs 11 and 15. Klaasen (62 off 41) and Reddy (56 off 33) peppered the boundary ropes with seven sixes and eight fours, lifting SRH to a competitive position.
At one stage, a total in excess of 180 looked possible.
LSG Pull Things Back at the Death
However, Lucknow Super Giants staged a strong comeback in the death overs. Manimaran Siddharth broke the dangerous stand by dismissing Reddy, while Avesh Khan struck twice in quick succession to remove Klaasen and Harsh Dubey. Prince Yadav then bowled a tight final over, conceding just 10 runs, as SRH were restricted to 156/9, a total that appeared slightly below par given their mid-innings surge.
Pant Anchors Chase in Final-Over Thriller
Chasing 157, LSG got off to a solid start, with Aiden Markram leading the charge early. However, wickets at regular intervals kept the contest alive. Rishabh Pant, coming in at No. 3, initially struggled for fluency but grew into his innings with time. Despite wickets falling at the other end, the skipper held his nerve, guiding the chase with a composed and calculated knock.
As the match went down to the wire, Pant stepped up under pressure, striking crucial boundaries in the final over before finishing the game in style to secure LSG’s first win of the season.