A stunning late assault from Nicholas Pooran set up Lucknow Super Giants' comprehensive seven-wicket victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday, May 13, 2023, which boosted LSG's IPL 2023 play-off hopes.
Having messed up two easy run chases, Lucknow must have been nervous going into the final few overs against Hyderabad.
Before this game LSG didn't boast of a good record batting second as they had lost four out of six matches this season.
But LSG banished those demons as they staged an incredible late comeback courtesy of Pooran's sensational 44 from 13 balls, with three fours and four sixes, at an amazing strike rate of 338.
Pooran has been in smashing form in IPL 2023, with 292 runs in 12 matches at a strike rate of 173. The West Indian left-hander had similarly blown away Royal Challengers Bangalore in a high-scoring run chase, blasting 62 from 19 balls, to help LSG chase down 213.
Despite needing 69 from the last five overs, LSG were quietly confident about their chances with Marcus Stoinis in the middle and Pooran and Krunal Pandya to follow.
A tactical blunder from SRH Captain Aiden Markram proved decisive as he gave part-time spinner Abhishek Sharma, who had bowled two overs for 11 runs, the crucial 15th over.
LSG didn't hold back as they went all out after the left-arm spinner. Stoinis showed his brute force with back to back 100 metre sixes off Abhishek straight down the ground. He perished off the third ball caught at long-off before Pooran made an unbelievable start to his innings with three sixes off his first three balls.
He lofted the first ball over long-on for a massive 105 metre six and repeated the dose next ball for another huge six. The last ball was in the slot, on the leg stump line, as Pooran slog swept it over midwicket for the fifth six of the over.
Abhishek went for 31 runs in the 16th over, which brought the equation down to a manageable 38 from the last four overs. The spinner is the second bowler this season to concede five sixes in an over after Gujarat Titans' Yash Dayal.
Prerak Mankad, who struggled to get going at the start of his innings, made sure he continued in the same vein at the other end. He hit pacer Thangarasu Natarajan for a six over long-off before an edge off a full toss got him a four off the next.
Pooran also went after the experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar, hitting him for successive fours through the off-side in the 18th over and slammed Natarajan for a six in the penultimate over.
It was fitting that Pooran hit the winning runs as he glanced left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi for a four off the second ball of the last over.
It was an unbelievable turnaround as 30 minutes earlier Sunrisers looked set for a comfortable victory at the halfway stage, before LSG's batters changed the course of the match completely, hitting 110 runs from the last 38 balls.
LSG were struggling on 68/2 after 10 overs before they got their innings back on track by putting on 52 from the next five to get to 114/2 in 15 overs. Pooran's late dash saw them hit 71 runs from the last 26 balls.
Pooran's strike rate of 338 is the second best in an IPL innings for a batter having faced a minimum of 10 balls faced.
As the left-hander rightly observed after the game: 'T20 is a batter's game, no risk, no reward.'
