NEW DELHI: Sunrisers Hyderabad handed Lucknow Super Giants a crushing defeat in their IPL 2024 encounter, leaving LSG consultant Adam Voges at a loss for words.
SRH's commanding performance saw them dismantle LSG's bowling attack and then effortlessly chase down a target of 166 in just 9.4 overs, securing a remarkable 10-wicket victory, the fastest 10-over score in T20 history.
Voges, reflecting on the onslaught, admitted, "I think we all are in awe a little bit of what we've just seen. I think sometimes you've gotta tip your hat and say well played to the opposition. We clearly didn't have an answer."
Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma's explosive partnership set the tone for Hyderabad's innings, with both batsmen reaching their half-centuries in less than 20 balls each. Voges conceded that LSG's performance in the powerplay paled in comparison to SRH's aggressive batting approach.
"Our powerplay compared to Sunrisers was at the two extremes. We were put under immense pressure with the ball right from the start. We weren't able to apply that same pressure with the bat, to begin with," Voges acknowledged.
Despite a valiant effort from Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran, who stitched together an unbeaten 99-run stand to give LSG a glimmer of hope, Voges admitted that their total of 165 was insufficient.
"I thought our backend of the innings was really good. Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran's partnership got us, it was probably still under par total but it gave us a fighting chance at least. But that obviously was clearly not enough," Voges remarked.
With their sixth defeat in the IPL 2024, Lucknow Super Giants find themselves languishing at sixth in the standings, their net run-rate taking a significant hit. LSG face an uphill battle to regain momentum and secure a spot in the playoffs amidst stiff competition in the tournament.
1/10:Sunrisers Hyderabad crush Lucknow Super Giants
ANI
2/10:10-wicket win
<p>Openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma smoked half-centuries as Sunrisers Hyderabad crushed Lucknow Super Giants by 10 wickets on Wednesday. </p>AFP
3/10:Bhuvneshwar Kumar
<p>Bhuvneshwar Kumar set up the victory with impressive bowling figures of 2-12 to restrict Lucknow to 165-4 after they elected to bat first. </p>AFP
4/10:LSG
<p>Lucknow lost regular wickets until Nicholas Pooran (48), and Ayush Badoni (55), put on an unbeaten stand of 99 in 52 balls to boost the team total. </p>AFP
5/10:SRH win big!
<p>Chasing 166, Head (89*), and Abhishek (75*), tore into the opposition attack to romp home with 10.2 overs to spare at their home in Uppal. </p>AFP
6/10:Travis Head
<p>Australia's Head attacked with a flurry of fours and sixes as he reached his fifty in 16 balls and went past 500 runs this season. </p>AFP
7/10:Head count
<p>Head is now third in the batting chart behind Virat Kohli (542) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (541) with his fourth half-century -- he also has a ton -- in this edition. </p>AFP
8/10:Head vs spinners
<p>Head took on the spinners with aplomb and said the skill will be invaluable on the slow pitches in the West Indies during the T20 World Cup in June. </p>AFP
9/10:Abhishek Sharma
<p>Abhishek joined the charge as he got to his fifty in 19 balls after the pair took Hyderabad to 107 in the first six overs of powerplay. </p>AFP
10/10:7th win for SRH
<p>Hyderabad registered their seventh win in 12 matches to hand a perfect gift to birthday boy and captain Pat Cummins, who turned 31 on Wednesday. </p>AFP(With inputs from ANI)
