Lucknow Super Giants won by 7 wickets over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on May 13. Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and opted to bat. They managed 182 runs where Heinrich Klaasen top-scored with 47. Abdul Samad also scored 37 as well.
While chasing, Lucknow Super Giants managed to seal the deal in 19.2 overs where Prerak Mankad hit 64 off 45. Marcus Stoinis scored 40 off 25 whereas Nicholas Pooran managed a 13-ball 44 as well.
READ MORE: ‘Could have gone deeper’ – Shubman Gill on his knock
Here is what the captains and the player of the match said after the game:
Krunal Pandya, LSG captain said as quoted by Cricbuzz: With the way they were going I thought 200, but we pulled it back nicely towards the end especially by Yash and Avesh. At this level anything is possible, we had the belief and with players like Stoinis and Pooran, we had to believe. We knew we had to go and there was nothing special (was said during the timeout), luckily it paid off for us and Abhishek’s over changed the momentum. He’s (Prerak Mankad) coming in for his first season and to come out and bat like that shows a lot of character, really happy for him to coming out here and score those runs. Even he will believe he belongs here.
Prerak Mankad, Player of the Match said as quoted by Cricbuzz: Most important game for us, my score does not matter to me, whichever team I play I want to contribute. I was trying to hit the spinners and couldn’t connect, I knew Mayank would try to get me out and I have played against him in domestic cricket, so took my chance. Thanks to the management for giving me this opportunity. I haven’t batted a lot at number 3 but have batted in the top four. I back my ability and strength, it worked out in the end. Whatever happens at the other end should not effect me, and because of Stoinis and Pooran we won this game.
Aiden Markram said as quoted by Cricbuzz: I thought it was a decent score, I thought 180 was par. We batted well, probably lacked one partnership that could have got us to the 200-run mark. The wicket got slower throughout the day, we would have taken this total at the start. Pressure is an interesting thing, and the guys tried their best. When you are put under pressure by high-quality players like Stoinis and Pooran, you are going to be tested. Once the righties came in, I don’t think I was the man for the job. It’s about the guys using the next three games as opportunities, they must make it count.
Nicholas Pooran said as quoted by Cricbuzz: We spoke about adapting, we knew we could target that one over from spin, it was right up to my match-up and thankfully it came off well (on the 31-run over from Abhishek), I did enjoy my batting. It’s important to target that 6th bowler, it’s a batter’s game, no risk, no reward, you have to work on the match-ups. I’ve played enough international cricket to know how to deal with situations, I expected the bowlers to bowl yorkers and slower balls and was ready for it. Even in T20I cricket, I’d like to bat longer
