Sunrisers Hyderabad did everything right till the fifth over. It opted to field after winning the toss against Lucknow Super Giants and Washington Sundar bagged a couple of wickets to reduce the opponent to 27 for three in the PowerPlay.
However, Super Giants rode on half-centuries from captain K.L. Rahul and Deepak Hooda to post a competitive 169 for seven in an IPL fixture at the DY Patil Stadium on Monday.
In reply, Sunrisers’ innings was built around Rahul Tripathi (44, 30b, 5x4, 1x6) and Nicholas Pooran (34, 24b, 3x4, 2x6). While the former shone at the beginning of the chase, the latter did his best to keep the Hyderabad outfit in the reckoning. However, Avesh Khan (four for 24) struck at vital moments to swing the game Super Giants’ way.
Earlier, Hooda, walking out to bat after the Super Giants had lost Quinton de Kock, Evin Lewis and Manish Pandey, added 87 for the fourth wicket with Rahul. The two took time before freeing their arms.
In the 10th over bowled by Umran Malik, Hooda and Rahul smashed 20 runs. Rahul hit a couple of boundaries before giving the strike to Hooda, who hit a six and a boundary.
Hooda went after Malik again in the 14th over, stroking two fours and a six, before getting caught by Rahul Tripathi on the midwicket boundary off Romario Shepherd. The young Ayush Badoni (19, 12b, 3x4) ensured that Super Giants sustained the momentum though Rahul was trapped in front by birthday boy T. Natarajan. Jason Holder, who made his debut for the new franchise, remained unbeaten on eight.
Early on in the innings, a terrific catch from Kane Williamson at short extra-cover sent back de Kock. Lewis, too, failed to fire as he was caught plumb in front by Washington. Manish Pandey started positively, hitting Shepherd for a six and a four in the fifth over before perishing in the same over.
Despite making early inroads, Sunrisers failed to nail home the advantage as Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Malik were off-colour.
