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Skipper Rishabh Pant upped his game when it mattered, while pacer Mohammed Shami posed probing questions not only to Sunrisers Hyderabad batters, but also to the national selection committee with an opening spell for ages to headline Lucknow Super Giants’s thrilling five-wicket victory in an IPL match here on Sunday. In a spell that oozed skill and class in equal measure, Shami bowled an astounding 18 dot balls to finish with 2-9 in four overs which largely became responsible as SRH were restricted to 156-9.
LSG rode on Aiden Markram’s 27-ball-45 and Pant’s 50-ball-68 not out to surpass the target with one ball to spare. The chase got tricky towards the end with nine needed off the final over, but Pant smote Jaydev Unadkat for two straight boundaries — second a forehand tennis like slap before another lofted boundary over mid-off to finish the game in style.
Mohd Shami celebrates the wicket of SRH opener Abhishek Sharma
Amid criticism around his T20 batting approach, Pant asserted that recognition from within the dressing room matters far more than outside chatter. “I know I’m preparing well. I want to let my bat do the talking. My colleagues and management see how hard I work, that’s what matters. I just don’t want to talk about that,” Pant said.
Earlier, it was Shami, the 35-year-old artist, who set up the match in the Powerplay itself. His scalps were the crack opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, dismissed off successive deliveries across two overs. He was ably supported by Prince Yadav (2-34). SRH’s Heinrich Klaasen (62 off 41 balls) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (56 off 33 balls) added 116 runs for the fifth wicket.
35-4
Runs scored by SRH after the first 10 overs — the lowest total by any team against LSG
116
No of runs put on by Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar for the fifth wicket — SRH’s highest partnership for the fifth or lower wicket in the IPL
22
No of 50-plus scores for Rishabh Pant in the IPL — the fourth-highest among wicketkeepers
Brief scores
SRH 156-9 in 20 overs (H Klaasen 62, N Reddy 56; M Shami 2-9, P Yadav 2-34; A Khan 2-36) lost to LSG 160-5 in 19.5 overs (R Pant 68*, A Markram 45; H Dubey 2-18) by five wickets
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