IPL 2024: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma shine as Sunrisers Hyderabad thrash Lucknow Super Giants

Hyderabad: Travis Head hammered 30 balls 89 and Abhishek Sharma slammed 75 off 38 as Sunrisers Hyderabad thrashed Lucknow Super Giants by ten wickets and chased down the target of 166 runs in just 9.4 overs overs at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, here on Wednesday.

Abhishek and Travis completely destroyed the LSG bowling attack.

SRH in this season of IPL have scored with an economy of 11.37 in the power play overs, and yet again reached 100 under six overs only. LSG opened their bowling with Krishnappa Gowtham and Yash Thakur expectedly, but SRH got off to a flyer.

Travis hits Gowtham for 22 runs followed by Abhishek taking four fours off Thakur.

The hitting never stopped even after the fifties, as both batters were on a destructive mode to help SRH chase down the target in less than 10 overs.

Head smashed a half-century and this time in just 16 balls. It was some astonishing hitting from Head, who was just picking his spots and sending them there no matter where the ball is pitched, no matter the pace. One of the incredible was a back-foot off-drive off Ravi Bishnoi for a huge six over long-off.

Then there was a swat down the wicket straight of mid-off off Naveen-ul-Haq. He was 58 off 18 now, and went past 500 for the tournament, and also had hit the most fours in this IPL. SRH were 87 for 0 in five overs. That was four times what LSG were at this point.

In all T20 cricket, only seven times have 100 or more been scored in the powerplay, SRH have the top two scores, both in this year of IPL. It seemed slow by comparison, but Abhishek Sharma reached his fifty in 19 balls with a straight six off Ayush Badoni as SRH reached 120 for 0 in 6.3 overs.

As many as 14 sixes and 16 fours were hit in the chase which meant every second ball reached the boundary.

Earlier, Bhuvneshwar Kumar led the way with figures of 4-0-12-2, conceding only in denominations of one, completely shutting down the LSG top order, which scored just 66 in the first 11.2 overs. The unbeaten 99-run stand between Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran guided LSG to a respectable total.

Electing to bat, LSG were in all sorts of trouble at 66 for 4 in 11.2 overs before Badoni (55 not out off 30 balls) and Pooran (48 not out off 25 balls) stitched crucial 95-runs off 55 balls for the unbeaten fifth-wicket stand.

LSG were struggling at 27 for 2 at the end of the powerplay.

The visitors lost Quinton de Kock, who replaced an injured Mohsin Khan, failed to deliver, caught brilliantly by Nitish Kumar Reddy at deep backward square-leg off Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/12) in the third over.

Bhuvneshwar struck again in the fifth over, dismissing the dangerous Marcus Stoinis but the credit for the dismissal goes to young Sanvir Singh, who took a stunning diving catch just inches from the ground at mid-on.

The pitch also didn't help LSG's cause as the ball was a bit slow and was stopping, as their batters found it difficult to find timing.

While skipper KL Rahul (29) held one end up, Krunal Pandya (24) took it on himself to up the ante.

The 52-ball 99-run partnership for the fifth wickets between Badoni and Pooran--highest for LSG for the fifth wickets-- helped them to recover from 66 for 4 to 165 for 4 at the end of 20 overs. Badoni remained unbeaten on 55 as Pooran struck 26 balls 48.

Brief score: Lucknow Super Giants 165 for 4 in 20 overs (Ayush Badoni 55 not out, Nicholas Pooran 48 not out; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2-12, Pat Cummins 1-47) lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad 167 for 0 in 9.4 overs (Travis Head 89 not out, Abhishek Sharma 75). Agencies

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