Nicholas Pooran, Krunal Pandya Keep LSG In Play-Off Hunt

Nicholas Pooran justified his Rs 16 crore billing, pulling off what looked like a difficult chase on a tacky track as Lucknow Super Giants were back in play-off hunt with a seven-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in an Indian Premier League match in Hyderabad on Saturday. A target of 183 was certainly not an easy proposition on a track that got slower as the match progressed. However, Pooran (44 not out ff 13 balls), with assistance from domestic bulwark Prerak Mankad (64 not out, 45 balls) and Marcus Stoinis (40 off 25 balls), helped LSG get past the target with four balls to spare.

LSG now have 13 points from 12 games and are now in fourth spot behind Gujarat Titans (16 points), CSK (15 points) and Mumbai Indians (14 points). However, they will have to win their next two games to have an assured berth in the last four stage.

As far as SRH are concerned, another tournament of non-performance is coming to an end with a below-par show.

Till the 15th over, SRH controlled the proceedings as LSG crawled to 114 for 2, needing 68 more from six overs.

However, Aiden Markram's decision to give an extra over to part-time left-arm spinner Abhishek Sharma, who was walloped for five sixes in the 16th over, proved costly.

Stoinis thumped him for two maximums before being holed out at deep extra cover boundary. But Pooran came in and hit two 100m-plus sixes and one straight to completely change the equation.

Credit should be given to Saurashtra's Mankad, who struggled to get going during the middle overs. But a pep-talk from mentor Gautam Gambhir during strategic time-out saw a sea-change in his approach as he showed more intent, hitting a straight six off T Natarajan.

Earlier, Krunal Pandya produced a couple of back-to-back