CHENNAI: Ayush Badoni's valuable 55 not out and Nicholas Pooran's quickfire 48 not out came in handy for Lucknow Super Giants to post 165 for 4 in 20 overs against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday. The duo added 99 runs for the unbeaten fifth wicket partnership.
Opting to bat, Lucknow had a disastrous start as they lost Quinton de Kock cheaply after the South African pulled a length ball from Bhuvneshwar to backward square leg. The ball seemed to be soaring over the ropes, but Nitish Kumar Reddy was calm. He timed his jump to perfection and held on to the ball, then realized that he was stepping onto the ropes, lobbed the ball in the air, went over and came back to take the rebound.
Now, a lot depended upon skipper KL Rahul and Marcus Stoinis to do the rescue act and consolidate. But that was not to be. The dangerous and hard-hitting Stoinis miscued a pull shot off Bhuvneshwar with Sanvir Singh taking a stunning catch at mid-on. After that, Rahul and Krunal Pandya made a sincere effort to stem the rot but met with limited success.
Rahul took on Cummins, while Krunal was harsh on Jaydev Unadkat, carting the fast bowler for two consecutives sixes. Rahul fell to Cummins, while Krunal was unlucky to be run out. Lucknow were reduced to 66 for 4 in 11.2 overs.
Badoni, who is known to have an uncanny knack of scoring runs at a fast clip, joined Pooran in what was the best phase for Lucknow. Badoni did not allow the pressure to swallow and played fluently. His three boundaries in a T Natarajan over showed his intent and class. He raced to his fifty in just 28 balls.
Barring Bhuvneshwar Kumar, none of the hosts' fast bowlers were impressive. Hyderabad spinners Shahbaz Ahmed and Vijayakanth Visayakanth were economical when compared to their medium pacers. In the death overs, both Badoni and Pooran went for big shots, taking LSG to 165/4.