Shardul, Pooran shine in LSG's five-wicket win over SRH
Hyderabad, Mar 27 (PTI): Shardul Thakur's four-wicket haul and a sensational display of power-hitting from Nicholas Pooran set up a five-wicket win for Lucknow Super Giants over Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL match here on Thursday.
Shardul continued his dream comeback returning with figures of 4/34 to help LSG restrict a power-packed SRH to 190 for nine before Pooran (70 off 26; 6x4s, 6x6s) displayed his 360 degree hitting skills.
Pooran shared quick-fire match-winning 116 runs for the second wicket with Marsh (52 off 31) to help LSG chase down the target in 16.1 overs.
LSG didn't have the best start to their chase as they lost Aiden Markram early. But thereafter, it was the effortless hitting from Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran that helped LSG surge ahead.
Pooran in particular was at his attacking best as he mostly dealt in sixes, clobbering Simarjeet and Abhishek Sharma for huge sixes during his knock, mostly towards the square boundary.
SRH just found it difficult to stop Pooran as he didn't even spare Cummins, hitting him for two fours in his first over to reach 77 for 1 in the powerplay.
Pooran brought up the fastest fifty of this season in just 18 balls with another huge six over square leg of Adam Zampa.
Pooran's magnificent knock was cut short by Cummins, trapped in front of the wickets in the ninth over.
After Pooran's dismissal, Marsh took the onus on him and brought up his half-century of just 29 balls.
LSG skipper Rishabh Pant (15 off 15) could not do much but Abdul Samad played a entertaining cameo to get his side home.
Earlier opting bowl, Shardul (4/34) gave LSG a fiery start, removing Abishek Sharma and last match centurion Ishan Kishan in consecutive balls in the third over.
Shardul sent packing Sharma with a short delivery before getting Ishan Kishan caught behind off an innocuous delivery down the leg side.
Travis Head (47 off 28), however, looked in ominous form as he took the attack to the opposition and used his brute power to deal in boundaries and sixes.
Head was particularly brutal against Avesh Khan, who sprayed the ball on both sides, with the Australian hitting him for two sixes and one four to pick up 18 runs in the fourth over.
Head, however, was lucky as he got two reprieves.
Head skied Ravi Bishnoi's first ball down the ground, and Pooran stationed at long-on had all the time in the world to get under the ball and take a simple catch but the West Indian put it down.
The missed chance proved costly as Head slammed Bishnoi over covers for a maximum.
Bishnoi had another chance to claim the wicket of Head in the fifth ball of the sixth over but he failed to latch on to a difficult return catch.
But Head's luck finally ran out when fast bowler Prince Yadav disturbed his timbers to pick up his first IPL wicket.
Henrich Klaasen (26 off 17) was looking dangerous but got out in a bizarre fashion, run out by Yadav off his own bowling as a straight drive from Nitish Reddy ricocheted on to the sumps from the bowlers follow through.
Young Aniket Verma played a 13-ball 36-run cameo that included five sixes but fell to leg-spinner Disvesh Rathi, caught by David Miller.
SRH skipper Pat Cummins (18 off 4) hit three sixes of his first three balls before departing.
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Experience comes when you play bigger teams in bilateral series: Rashid Khan
Chennai (PTI): Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan called for more bilateral series against stronger cricketing nations after his team signed off from the T20 World Cup on a high, defeating Canada in their final group match here on Thursday.
Afghanistan played some exhilarating cricket, going down to South Africa in a gripping second Super Over after the scores were tied, a humdinger that provided one of the early thrills of the World Cup.
However, the spin-bowling stalwart said Afghanistan could make significant strides if they get regular opportunities to compete against stronger cricketing nations.
"Couple of areas to improve, with the batting, the middle order got a bit stuck against the big teams, and then with the bowling the death overs. That comes when you play the bigger teams in bilateral series," said Rashid after his team defeat Canada by 82 runs, with him returning excellent figures of 2 for 19.
The stalwart said the side had arrived well prepared for the tournament and produced some breathtaking cricket, but admitted the narrow defeat to South Africa proved costly and remained a painful setback.
"We were well-prepared (for the tournament), we played some unbelievable cricket. The game against South Africa, that really hurt everyone. We had to win one of those (first two) games and see how the tournament unfolded. We'll take some positive things from this World Cup and look forward," he said.
With head coach Jonathan Trott set to part ways with the team, Rashid described the departure as an "emotional" moment for the side.
"I think we had some wonderful times with him. Where we are now, he played a main role. It's emotional to see him leave us, but that's how life is. We wish him all the best and somewhere down the line we see him again."
Ibrahim Zadran, who was named Player of the Match for his unbeaten 95 off 56 balls, said it was satisfying to finally register a substantial score after two below-par outings.
"I enjoyed it, didn't play better cricket in first two innings, which I expect. Wanted to back my skills, really enjoyed it. Pressure was there, it's there all the time. I want to put myself in pressure situations and enjoy it," said Zadran.
"Wanted to play positive cricket, rotate strike and punish bad ball, create partnerships and this is what I have done."
