SRH vs LSG Highlights, IPL 2024: Sunrisers Hyderabad chase down 166 inside 9.4 overs; Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma with the fireworks

Yash Thakur to bowl what is likely to be the last over of the match. This chase would do wonders to SRH's net run rate. And they finish it off in style. Abhishek Sharma clears the extra cover fence with SIX. SRH chase down 166 with all 10 wickets in hand inside 9.4 overs.

Naveen-ul-Haq back into the attack, and out of the ground. Call an ambulance, that cricket ball has been murdered. Misses the yorker slightly and that's enough for Travis Head, scoops it over long on for SIX!

Abhishek Sharma picks up a pace off delivery for four more. SRH can score a run an over from here to emerge victorious. Doubt they'd do it though. 157/0 after eight overs. Nine runs needed off the last 11 overs.

Ravi Bishnoi into his second over. But there's no change in the scoring rate. Travis Head starts it off with a slice behind square on the on side for four. Then, clears the mid-wicket fence for SIX. Moves into the 70s. 

Abhishek Sharma wraps up the over with a chip over wide long-on, nonchalance at its best. 143/0 after eight overs.

Field restrictions on. Field restrictions off. It doesn't matter when you're hitting them out of the park. Abhishek Sharma clears the fence twice off Ayush Badoni's over. Seems Lucknow have run out of options this early in the game. Fifty off just 19 deliveries from the flashy southpaw. Gets a warm hug from his SRH opening batter. These two are flying away with this one. 19 runs come from that over. 126/0 after seven overs.

Yash Thakur in to bowl the last over of the powerplay and Abhishek joins the party with a 4!! Short ball next and that's pulled begind for 6 more!! Follows that up with a shot straight down the ground for 4!! Last ball of the powerplay and he smashes it for 6 more. 20 from this one.

Naveen ul Haq in the attack now and Abhsihek with a single to start. Head on strike and he gets a boundary off the next ball, a full toss. Follows that up with another four!! This is relentless from SRH. The next ball goes for a six and that's his half century in 16 balls. Now then, what next? Short ball and he goes over point for 4 more!! Ends the over with another boundary!! 23 from this one

Ravi Bishnoi in the attack now and he is welcomed with a six rght off the bat by Abhishek Sharma!! And oh dear me!! He has been dropped the next ball. Head on strike now and he smashes the thurd delivery past covers for a boundary!! Over ends with a six!! Absolute carnage. 17 from this one

Gowtham continues and Head welcomes him with a six!! And the places the 3rd delivery for anoher 4. Hyderabad are racing along through the powerplay. And would you know it, he has smashed the next ball straight down the ground for six!! And the next one gets the same treatment and in the same area. Runs flowing. 22 from this over

Yash Thakur in the attack now and after a couple of dots, Abhishek slaps the next oe for a six!! Follows it up with another well-placed shot for four more. Another four follows. Ends with another 4.

Time for the chase and Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head are in the middle. Krishnappa Gowtham to start the attack. 1 run fromthe first 3 deliveries. And Heda ends the over with a four!! 8 from the first over 

Pat Cummins will bowl the last over and badoni with a switch hit to start this one off with a boundary!! Takes a single next and Pooran has 4 deliveries to drag LSG to 170. And he smashes a four off the 3rd delivery. Takes 2 more next and he finds another boundary!! And is that a six?? Or did the fielder push it back? It's a four. LSG finish at 165/4. 

Last 2 overs left and Natarajan to bowl the penultimate one. 4 to start this one and 2 more from the second delivery by Badoni. Too wide and that's punished!! 4 more.  And a 50 by Badoni now. The over ends with a 4 by Pooran. 15 from this over

Bhuvneshwar to finish his spell with this over and starts with a single. Pooran on strike now and takes a single off the next 2 balls. Excellent over. Just 5 from this one

Natarajan in to bowl the 17th and Badoni with a single to start. Full toss next and that's a wide. 2 runs from the next ball as the 50-run partnership is up. And Badoni with four more!! He ahs really breathed life into this innings. 14 from this one

Cumminsback in the attack and he starts with 2 runs as Pooran sweeps. Follows it up with a leg side flick for a boundary to third man. Plays at the 3rd ball and is beaten comprehensively before taking a single off the next. 10 from this one

Viyaskanth to bowl out with this over. Badoni tries a pull and a single to start. Pooran tries a flick off the leg side but finds a fielder. Follows that up with a huge six!! Badoni sweeps for a 4 to end the over. 12 from this one

Natarajan continues and Badoni scythes the first ball. Pulls the second ball and gets a boundary!! Follows it up with another one but this one gets a nick. LSG won't complain. Switch hit next to get another four, this time over the keeper's head. That was deliberate. 17 from this over

Unadkat in the attack again and Pooran with a single to start this one off. Badoni on strike and he takes a single after 2 dots. Might have been a catch out but it falls just short of Sanvir. 4 from this over

T Natarajan in the attack and is that a run out?? Direct hit from Pat Cummins and that's Krunal Pandya gone!! Huge, huge wicket!! 

Krunal Pandya run out (Cummins) 24(21)

Viyaskanth in the attack again and starts with 2 singles off the first 2 deliveries. Pandya with another subgle and pooran with a whipped shot for a four!! 8 from this one

Cummins to bowl the 10th and Rahul with a four to bring up Lucknow's 50. Takes a single off the next and Pandya on strike. A single off the 3rd again and Rahul back on strike. And he's gone!! Tries for a flick towards the backward boundary and he's caught by Natarajan. 

Rahul c T Natarajan b Cummins 29(33)

Viyaskanth in the attack again and yields 2 runs off the first two balls. Great fielding next to keep the 5th delivery to just a single again. Just 4 from this one after that anomaly of the last over.

Unadkat in to bowl the next over and Krunal Pandya pulls but can't find the gap due to no pace on offer from the pitch and gets just 2 from the first 3 deliveries. Finally gets a decent hit, staright down the ground for a six!! And would you know it, that's another!! Same place. 15 from this over

The debutant Viyaskanth is now introduced and he starts with just a single off the first 2 balls. Rahul is trying to hit some boundaries but can't get a proper bat to the deliveries. SRH are pegging them in. 3 from this over

Shahbaz to bowl the last over of the powerplay and LSG need to get a move on from here. 2 from the first 2 deliveries as the boundaries have dried up. 2 runs more from the next 2 deliveries and the over ends with back to back dots. 4 from this over

Bhuvneshwar to bowl the penultimate over in the powerplay. And he strikes again!! A diving catch by Satvir Singh to dismiss Stoinis. The umpires will have a look though. And yes, the catch is fair and Stoinis departs!!!

Stoinis c Sanvir Singh b Bhuvneshwar 3(5)

Spin introduced and Shahbaz to bowl the 4th. Rahul starts this one with a single which is replicated by Stoinis to return the favour. 2 more singles as the scoreboard keeps ticking along. Rahul tries a sweep and it hits his pads!! And it's given. Rahul reviews straight away. Looks like the ball has hit the gloves. 5 from this over

Bhuvneshwar back and he strikes staright away!! De Kock tries to change gears and Nitish Reddy with a exceptional catch to send him back. Takes the catch, throws the ball up in the air as he was near the boundary ripes, steps inside and completes the catch!!

de Kock c Nitish Reddy b Bhuvneshwar 2(5) 

Cummins has taken the new ball now and steams in at KL Rahul who drives and gets a fielder. Dot ball to start. Pushes away the seond and that's another dot. Good start by the SRH captain. Aaaand Rahul lifts the next ball over the extra cover region for a six!!! What a beauty of a shot!! 10 from the over

Here we go!! KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock in the middle and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to open the attack. Rahul with a single to get off the mark straight away. De Kock with a single of his iwn and both batters have opened their accounts. Huge shout for a caught behind but SRH decides against the review. Might have been the pad. 3 from this over

Both teams made 2 changes each with Sanvir Singh coming in for Mayank Agarwal and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth making his debut in place of Marco Jansen for SRH. Meanwhile, Quinton de Kock came back in while Mohsin Khan missed out for Lucknow. 

LSG: Manimaran Siddharth, Yudhvir Singh, Devdutt Padikkal, Ashton Turner, Amit Mishra

SRH: Glenn Phillips, Umran Malik, Abhishek Sharma, ,Mayank Agarwal, Washington Sundar

Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul(w/c), Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Krishnappa Gowtham, Yash Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq

Travis Head, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Sanvir Singh, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, T Natarajan

KL Rahul: We will bat first. That plus a couple of games that have been played here. It is hard to complete forget how important this game for both the sides, but we have played enough cricket. We will focus one thing at a time, bat first and put up the runs on the board. Playing at home becomes a difference, but we play so much cricket that we know how the conditions will be. Quinton comes in, Mohsin misses out and there are a few other changes.

Pat Cummins: Thank You. My body feels 31. We would have batted as well. But we have won both ways here and not too upset. Hard to know as it has been pretty high scoring. It is pretty tough and you have to keep winning till the end, we have not nailed it in the last couple of games and it is time to change that. We have a couple of changes - Sanvir comes in for Agarwal and Viyaskanth makes his debut and replaces Marco.

Here are the two captains in the middle. Lucknow Super Giants win toss, opt to bat first against Sunrisers Hyderabad

We are in Hyderabad and once more we are on pitch number 2 where 277 was scored. It has its own stardom. Boundary dimensions - there's some good news for the bowlers as it is the centre pitch, 60-odd meters on either side and a pitch that the spinners won't mind bowling. It feels like walking into a clay oven today. (The pitch) Extremely hard, really dry and you can feel the heat, still hot to touch. It has opened up tiny little cracks. I would be surprised if it is a record breaking total type this evening. It is probably a 200 wicket, very fast outfield and not a lot of dew. The fast bowlers will use their cutters especially in the middle phase of the match. I believe whoever wins the toss would look to set the total: Matthew Hayden and Sanjay Manjrekar.

Playing on flat decks and Indian spinners “not spinning the ball” enough are the reasons that Muttiah Muralitharan believes the tweakers have not been able to make an impact in the ongoing India Premier League. In a season where totals in excess of 240 have become the norm at most venues, only three spinners — Yuzendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Sunil Narine – are in the top 20 wicket-takers list.

Beyond them, not many have been able to make an impact even in the middle overs; even India’s premier spinner R Ashwin hasn’t been an exception, going six straight matches without a wicket. On flat decks and short boundaries, captains have been reluctant to use the spinners.

“The problem in India at the moment is most of the spinners who are playing are not spinning the ball. That is the main criteria because they are bowling a little quicker and not spinning the ball. There is no deviation,” Muralitharan, who is the spin-bowling coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad said on the eve of their match against Chennai Super Kings. (READ MORE)

The IPL 2024 final will be held at Chennai’s Chepauk on May 26 with the Southern city also getting the second qualifier on May 24. Meanwhile, the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will host the first qualifier on May 21 and the Eliminator on May 22.

This season, the 10 teams have been divided into two groups with teams in the same group to play the five teams in the other group twice in the group stage while playing the other four teams in their own group just once.

GROUP A: Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants

GROUP B: Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans

The England Cricket Board (ECB) on Tuesday has announced that the T20 World Cup-bound England players will miss the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 playoffs and final due to their four-match T20I series against Pakistan, starting from May 22.

“Selected players, currently playing in the Indian Premier League, will return in time for the series against Pakistan, which gets underway at Headingley on Wednesday 22 May 2024,” the ECB said in a statement.

Squad

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hardik Pandya (Vice Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.

Reserves

Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Gujarat Titans

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Punjab Kings

Delhi Capitals vs Lucknow Super Giants

Mumbai Indians vs Lucknow Super Giants

Former Australian quick Brett Lee has tore into the Lucknow Super Giants hierarchy on Tuesday after their slender win against Mumbai Indians saw the 23-year-old pace sensation Mayank Yadav – making a comeback from a side strain injury – leave the pitch without completing his four-overs quota. This, after he complained ‘feeling sore in the same spot’, as shared by LSG head coach Justin Langer afterwards.

Lambasting the franchise, Lee told JioCinema, “A side strain or whatever they’re calling it, normally takes at least four to six weeks to even come right. We don’t know the depths of how big a strain it was but for somebody who is pushing the limits of their body by bowling 150 kmph, that’s not good management at all. His first game coming back and getting injured, has to directly be on the leadership and the medical staff of the Lucknow Super Giants.

The IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday ended in a last-ball thriller with the home team winning the IPL 2024 clash by one solitary run.

Royals needed two runs off the final ball. But Hyderabad’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a superb ball to Rovman Powell’s pads to get him LBW. While Rajasthan Royals had no reviews left at that stage, the talk was what would happen if they had taken a review and had the decision from the on-field umpire revoked.

Rajasthan Royals vs Lucknow Super Giants: Rajasthan Royals won by 20 runs

Lucknow Super Giants vs Punjab Kings: Lucknow Super Giants won by 21 runs

Lucknow Super Giants vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Lucknow Super Giants won by 28 runs

Lucknow Super Giants vs Gujarat Titans: Lucknow Super Giants won by 33 runs

Lucknow Super Giants vs Delhi Capitals: Delhi Capitals won by 6 wkts

Lucknow Super Giants vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 8 wkts

Chennai Super Kings vs Lucknow Super Giants: Lucknow Super Giants won by 8 wkts

Chennai Super Kings vs Lucknow Super Giants: Lucknow Super Giants won by 6 wkts

Lucknow Super Giants vs Rajasthan Royals: Rajasthan Royals won by 7 wkts

Mumbai Indians vs Lucknow Super Giants: Lucknow Super Giants won by 4 wkts

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 98 runs

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 4 runs

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians: Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 31 runs

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Gujarat Titans: Gujarat Titans won by 7 wkts

Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 6 wkts

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Punjab Kings: Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 2 runs

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 25 runs

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Capitals: Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 67 runs

Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad: Royal Challengers Bengaluru won by 35 runs

Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad: Chennai Super Kings won by 78 runs

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals: Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 1 run

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians: Mumbai Indians won by 7 wkts

Amidst the discussions over India’s squad for the T20 World Cup with skipper Rohit Sharma and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar in the press conference on Thursday, two subtle indicators from the captain stood out.

With the shortcomings at the 2022 T20 World Cup before him, Rohit and India have chosen to bolster their areas of strength and back it to the hilt this time. The Indian captain was keen on shoring up the middle-order composition. “We wanted someone in the middle overs to come and play a role where he can play freely without worrying who is bowling. Based on that, we picked Shivam Dube,” he said.

Rohit also batted for the inclusion of four spinners in the 15, the intention behind which he said he would divulge on the eve of India’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign opener against Ireland in Nassau. (READ MORE)

Post IPL, with an eye on the tour of Australia in November, the BCCI is all set to put in place an extensive training programme for young pace sensation Mayank Yadav.

The Indian Express understands that Mayank will head to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, where a medical assessment will be done before he is handed over to biomechanics experts and fast-bowling coach Troy Cooley. The plan is to include him in the India ‘A’ team which is likely to tour Australia in June or July before the five-match Test series which beings on November 22

Cricket’s rulebook is extensive. For anyone who follows the sport, it is not a simple game between bat and ball. There are so many nuances in the fine print that even top-level international athletes sometimes don’t know all of them. And some of those nuances are not always straightforward, some even defy logic and need changing, which doesn’t happen until a major gaffe. (READ MORE)

One line of Sanju Samson on his Instagram wall told a thousand tales.

Hours after the selectors picked him, he posted a greyscale photograph of himself staring into the distance, his eyes still and solemn, and beneath it wrote: “Viyarppu thunniyitta kuppayam”. Literally translated as a shirt spun with sweat. The inference is as clear as sun-light, and situationally apt, that he had to shed considerable sweat to earn his place in the side.

But the line tells you more than just about Sanju’s cricketing graph, but his organic yet carefully-woven cult-persona on social media platforms that extends beyond those that love him just for his cricketing gifts, the identity he has carved as a boy-next-door cricketer-celebrity in the Insta-scape, his proximity to the prevailing pop culture of the state, his love for music and movies.
He is delivering a cricketing statement; yet it conveys more than that. To understand further, listen to the background score that goes with the picture and the line. (READ MORE)

Looks like the boys already know what they’re getting @patcummins30 for his birthday ?? pic.twitter.com/OhONZbo48N

— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) May 8, 2024

Sunil Gavaskar slammed India talisman Virat Kohli for his tirade against experts and analysts who were questioning him over his strike rate ahead of the Indian team selection for the T20 World Cup.

Indian cricket legend Gavaskar, who is an expert for Star Sports, also lashed out at the broadcaster, for repeatedly airing the clip of Kohli’s rant ‘half a dozen times’.

Shubman Gill chilling with Ed Sheeran during the English pop star’s visit to India. Gill as the voice of the Indian Spiderman in the sprawling movie franchise. Gill on the GQ cover. The 24-year-old youth icon is everywhere but in the T20 World Cup team as India has chosen to go with the veterans for the tournament in the US and the Caribbean in June.

It might hurt him, but he will be fine. Gill has been there on the doors of rejection, lost his appetite for the game, felt “disconnected” with the sport after relatively run-barren years in Test cricket in 2021 and 2022, developing self-doubts. But he rediscovered his love by going back to the reason he first started to play it when he was just four.

If you are wondering what will happen if the rain washes away the match between SRH vs LSG tonight, then both teams will earn a point apiece and rise up the table and into the top 4 with 13 points each.

'A thunderstorm in spots this evening; otherwise, partly cloudy,' predicts Accuweather for the night in Hyderabad. Will it affect the match here? We'll have to wait and find out.

SRH’s one-run heist vs RR is proof, never count out Patrick James Cummins the bowler.

Every now and then, the world needs to be reminded, Cummins is really good at this hip thing called fast bowling. Cummins the skipper must be held accountable. It’s not like he isn’t considered among the greatest bowlers of this generation anymore, but it is during the coronation of a fine cricketing leader that the pacer has been flagrantly overlooked.