IPL 2022: KL Rahul, Deepak Hooda & Avesh Khan Star as LSG Win by 12 Runs vs SRH

Avesh Khan picked 4 wickets for Lucknow against SRH.

Avesh Khan bagged 4 wickets against SRH.

Image: BCCI

• Lucknow Super Giants won by 12 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

• Avesh Khan picked 4 wickets while KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda scored fifties.

• SRH are yet to win in 2 games while Lucknow have won 2 out of their 3 so far.

KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda scored half-centuries and put on a fine stand first before young pacer Avesh Khan picked 4 wickets while Jason Holder bagged 3 to take Lucknow Super Giants over the line by 12 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday at the DY Patil Stadium.

Krunal Pandya also picked a couple of wickets as Lucknow edged out SRH, who have started off with two defeats. Jason Holder was making his debut for the Lucknow franchise as well.

Batting first, the Lucknow Super Giants had a horror start, losing early wickets and being tied down by the SRH bowlers. Quinton de Kock and Evin Lewis were both dismissed for 1 by Washington Sundar, in the second and fourth over of the innings while KL Rahul watched on in dismay.

Manish Pandey had a big chance to play an important hand but even he could not keep his captain company, as Romario Shepherd dismissed him for 11 of 10 balls. Lucknow finished the powerplay at 32/3 with Deepak Hooda joining Rahul and SRH dominating proceedings.

While Rahul kept steady at one end, intending to bat for as long as possible, Hooda was looking to attack at almost every chance. Hooda, for whom, this is a big season was out to make this count, as he improvised and found the boundary hits with regularity. At the midway stage, Hooda had outscored his captain by a fair distance as LSG started to pick up the pace with the score at 68/3. The 10^th over costed SRH 20 runs as Rahul and Hooda took Umran Malik to the cleaners.

Neither were going overboard understandably, but were quick to pounce on scoring chances as Lucknow got to 100 in the 14^th over, when Malik was costly again, going for 16 runs. SRH needed a wicket and T Natarajan was brought into the attack, but that didn’t stop Hooda from getting to his fifty of 31 balls.

Back came Shepherd after that and a slower one had Hooda deceived and caught at deep midwicket for 51 at the start of the 16^th. Hooda and Rahul had put on a 77-run stand, setting it up for a strong finish. Right after Rahul completed his fifty of 40 balls, while the exciting Ayush Badoni was looking to tee off on arrival. However, Shepherd and Bhuvi bowled a couple of tight overs to keep the batters from getting away despite Sundar bowling an expensive final over.

Just as Rahul seemed to be getting ready to accelerate in the final couple of overs, Natarajan trapped him LBW for 68 of 50 deliveries. Before the over was out Natarajan had packed off Krunal Pandya too with an inch perfect yorker, and finished up with figures 2/26.

LSG’s mid-innings momentum had tapered off the duo of Badoni and Jason Holder added 19 runs to the cause as they finished with a healthy 169/7.

In response, SRH too didn’t have a good start to their innings, losing early wickets, especially their skipper. Kane Williamson came out to open and before he got going Manish Pandey took a fantastic catch off Avesh Khan’s bowling as the captain walked back for 16. Soon after Abhishek Sharma, who looked bright, became Avesh’s second wicket as SRH finished the powerplay at 40/2.

Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markram were in the middle, with their task cut out in what was now a tricky chase for SRH. The batters picked off 37 off three overs after that, to release some pressure. Tripathi was going great guns, finding the boundaries with relative ease, while Markram kept feeding him the strike. The South African was the next to depart in the 11^th over, caught by Rahul off Krunal for 12.

And just as Tripathi was starting to stitch together an useful stand with Nicholas Pooran, Lucknow’s Krunal struck again with Ravi Bishnoi taking the catch to remove the right hander. Tripathi got a handy 44 to keep SRH in the hunt.

Pooran responded with a smoked six to Krunal, and had Washington Sundar for company. The West Indies’ batter made the next over count as well, giving Jason Holder a tonking and taking 15 runs off him. Sundar at the other end was keeping the scoreboard ticking and getting his eye in. Bishnoi then bowled out with figures 0/29 as the contest got closer.

In the final 3, SRH needed 33 with both Pooran and Sundar going through the gears. Pooran welcomed Avesh into his final over with a six but holed out in the deep midway through the 18^th for 34 from 24 balls. Off the next ball, Avesh sent Abdul Samad packing, picking his 4^th wicket and was also on a hat-trick. While there was no hat-trick for Avesh but he finished with figures of 4/24, putting the pressure right back on SRH in the final couple of overs.

New man Shepherd hammered Tye for a six to bring it to 16 of the final over, which started with Sundar’s dismissal with Holder getting the big wicket. Holder added another wicket to his tally, dismissing Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 1.

Holder finished off the over with a third wicket as Lucknow won by 12 runs.