Lucknow Super Giants won their second match, in Match 12 of IPL 2022, to sit at fifth place on the points table. Despite an improved batting performance after their tournament opener debacle, however, Sunrisers Hyderabad's hopes were dashed by Avesh Khan and Jason Holder, who shared seven wickets to take Lucknow to a 12-run win.
Lucknow Super Giants 169/7 in 20 overs
Kane Williamson won the toss and, as has been norm in this IPL, opted to bowl. The Sunrisers went in with an unchanged XI, while Lucknow brought in Holder for Dushmantha Chameera.
After a tight first over from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Williamson brought Washington Sundar into the attack. The move paid off immediately, as Sundar got Quinton de Kock and Evin Lewis, Lucknow's two left-handed overseas batters, in his first two overs. Romario Shepherd then dismissed Manish Pandey in his first over to reduce LSG to 27/3.
Captain K.L. Rahul and ever-impressive Deepak Hooda then took charge. As Rahul was content to play an anchoring role, Hooda cashed on his form to score his second fifty of the season. The duo added 87 in 10 overs before Shepherd dismissed Hooda for 51.
Once Rahul reached his fifty, he also started to play big shots before T. Natarajan got him 68. Natarajan also picked up the wicket of Krunal Pandya in the same over,and bowled brilliantly at the death. A late blast from Ayush Badoni (19 in 12 balls) took LSG to 169/7.
Sunrisers Hyderabad 157/9 in 20 overs
SRH lost Williamson and Abhishek Sharma to Avesh inside the Powerplay, but No. 3 Rahul Tripathi played a crucial innings for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. He got 44 at a strike rate of almost 150, adding 44 with Aiden Markram before Pandya got both.
Nicolas Pooran and Sundar then took charge. Pooran, in brilliant form, timed the ball perfectly to smash three fours and two sixes. However, Avesh who the match again, dismissed Pooran and Abdul Samad off consecutive balls of his fourth over to finish with 4-24.
SRH could not get going once Pooran fell. Holder needed to defend 16 against his old franchise: he got the wickets of Sundar, Bhuvneshwar and Shepherd with his first, fourth and sixth balls to seal a win.
Brief scores
Lucknow Super Giants 169/7 (K.L. Rahul 68; T. Natarajan 2-26) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 157/9 (Rahul Tripathi 44; Avesh Khan 4-24) by 12 runs. Player of the Match: Avesh Khan.