IPL 2023, LSG vs SRH | Who said what ft. Krunal Pandya, KL Rahul
Lucknow Super Giants cruised to a comfortable five-wicket win against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Friday to go top of the table. The skippers made observations about the low-scoring nature of the wicket while Krunal Pandya shared the process that led to his success.
Lucknow Super Giants gave a true glimpse of what to expect whenever they play at home for the remainder of the season with a slow pitch that greatly aided the spinners. The track gripped and turned more than any other wicket in the ongoing season so far and the host bowlers capitalized on it exceptionally to restrict the visitors to a paltry total of 121/8 before cruising home with the bat with four overs still in hand. The triumph was Lucknow's second in three matches after an opening-round victory against the Delhi Capitals was followed by a loss to Chennai Super Kings.
Lucknow skipper KL Rahul admitted being in the know about the Ekana's new-look wicket and how it would potentially behave on Friday.
[We realised] yesterday how the wicket was going to play! We knew what we were getting into. We saw in the first couple of overs: when Jaydev bowled a few cutters, they were gripping. I knew KP's better in the powerplay. Both were hard work... had different challenges. We have been here for a few weeks. Just a general chat with the batsmen; each person plays differently.
Veteran spinner Amit Mishra was afforded another opportunity to extend his legacy in the league and he did so with aplomb, returning excellent figures of 2/23 and helping dismiss Rahul Tripathi with a full-length diving catch.
Feeling good. I've done a lot of hard work, especially in fielding. That's my bowling style, I was just trying to vary my pace, and bowl slower. Whatever I can do, I'm doing in the fielding! I got some time on that (the catch)! The red soil has little bounce and less spin; black soil was slower and lower, though not turning much.
Sunrisers Hyderabad's returning captain Aiden Markram kept it short in the post-match presentation, acknowledging his team's disappointing showing with the bat.
Not enough. That 150-160 mark, and we would have been in the game. We realised it wasn't going to be a great wicket for batting... happy to fight it out and scratch away. Good effort [with the ball]. They tried hard, and fought. It's a new game of cricket starting for us on Sunday.
Krunal Pandya walked away with the Man of the Match award on the night for his 3/18 which included scalps of both openers as well as Markram for a golden duck. The slow-left-arm orthodox revealed his strategy going into the game and confessed to possessing a stable mindset during the ongoing IPL season.
Very good day at the office. Having more right-handers [to bowl at], I knew I will be bowling four overs today and I was prepared for it. Overall, this year I am in a good headspace, I have much more clarity about how I want to go about my game, whether it's bat and ball. Everything, I guess, once you have clarity up there, things automatically fall in place. I am someone who is very process-driven, doesn't think that much about result, and it is coming out really well...I am trying to recollect how I played my first four-five years of IPL where I was batting at No.4 consistently for Mumbai ," Krunal said. "In the last three years, for MI when I batted, my role was completely changed, I was batting at No.7... In the last four-five months, I took a break from cricket, where I was not playing. I just wanted to work on my skills, especially bowling," Krunal said at the post-match presentation. "I was just playing the white-ball format and what happened in the last two-three years, I just went wider and wider [with my release]. So I just wanted to work on my action, wanted to get tall so that I can get that turn and get that arm ball going as well.