By Bharath Ramaraj
On a turning track, Krunal Pandya’s all-round heroics powered Lucknow Super Giants to a five-wicket win against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Lucknow. LSG chased down the target of 122 in 16 overs.
Krunal twins arm-ball with turn
There is an old school of thought that the arm-ball is a lethal weapon on a track assisting the spinners. And we saw some evidence of that in the game played between Lucknow and Hyderabad. In the eighth over, Krunal removed Amnolpreet Singh with the straighter one. In the same over, he beat Aiden Markram with a wee bit of turn to rattle the timber. Krunal had also made the initial incision by inducing Mayank Agarwal to chip one to the fielder stationed at cover. He sowed the seeds of doubt in the batter’s mind with a hint of turn and the arm-ball.
A trip down the memory lane with Amit Mishra
Amit Mishra has been around on the professional circuit for more than two decades now. So when he prises out batters with tossed-up deliveries, it takes an aficionado on a jog down memory lane. In the penultimate over of Hyderabad’s innings, he dislodged both Washington Sundar and Adil Rashid with flighted deliveries. With those two wickets, Mishra now has 168 in the IPL. In between, Ravi Bishnoi also chipped in by bagging the scalp of Harry Brook as Lucknow’s spin trio ran through Hyderabad’s batting unit.
Hyderabad’s batting woes
On a two-paced deck that offered some help for the spinners, Hyderabad needed a total of around 150 in order to put some pressure on Lucknow. If Mayank got out to a soft dismissal, then Markram played down the wrong line. The talented Brook could have gauged the conditions before going for the big shot. Meanwhile, Sundar ended up with a slow-moving 28-ball 16. Rahul Tripathi tried to anchor the innings, but had too much to do.
Krunal showcases his batting prowess
Krunal didn’t just make his presence felt with the ball in hand. He also scored a rapid 23-ball 34. He skipped down the track and essayed a boundary off Markram. He also took on Umran Malik, with a pull and a heave down the ground. His breezy knock also helped KL Rahul to play his own game. The Lucknow skipper cracked a few classy cover drives and the occasional cut shot, as the duo more or less shut the door on Hyderabad’s chances.
Question marks over Hyderabad’s strategy
On a track that had something in it for the spinners, 10 out of 16 overs were bowled by the pacers. They opted for a pace bowler – Fazalhaq Farooqi – as the Impact Player. Although the left-arm pacer bowled with good control and bagged a wicket, Hyderabad should ideally have picked Mayank Markande as the Impact Player. A spinner was always going to offer more threat in the prevailing conditions.
To make matters worse, SRH asked part-time wicketkeeper Anmolpreet to don the gloves. Unfortunately, on a two-paced deck, he looked out of sorts.