IPL 2024: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma defy odds on slow Hyderabad track as SRH trounce LSG

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are back doing Sunrisers Hyderabad things in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Not only did they thump Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 10 wickets on Wednesday, but also dashed Mumbai Indians’ (MI) hopes of making the IPL playoffs as Hardik Pandya and Co became the first team to be eliminated from the IPL this season.

Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma dominate proceedings yet again

SRH have made a name for themselves by being dominant bowlers on their home turf at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. The Pat Cummins-led outfit have won three out of their four matches at the venue this season so far, with their only defeat coming against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on 25 April.

Also read | SRH shatter records in rapid run-chase against LSG

That was while chasing, as they eventually lost by 35 runs, and while the Orange Army aren’t known to be “chase masters” in the IPL as far as this season is concerned, Travis Head (89*) and Abhishek Sharma (75*) proved otherwise on Wednesday. The famed SRH opening duo have batted on their terms throughout the season with some free-flowing performances, and it was something similar on Wednesday against a hapless LSG bowling lineup.

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That's Sunrisers Hyderabad for you 💥#IPLonJioCinema #SRHvLSG #TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/xFiuuafuXa

— JioHotstar Reality (@HotstarReality) May 8, 2024

On a rather slow wicket to bat on in Hyderabad, LSG did exactly that after they won the toss. And that backfired early on, with dismissals of Quinton de Kock and Marcus Stoinis as Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck twice in the powerplay. KL Rahul’s strike-rate was once again under scrutiny after hitting just one four and one six in a 33-ball knock of 29. Hitting at a strike-rate of below 100 is far from ideal in a T20 and Rahul was undone by the length balls and inswingers that Bhuvneshwar kept producing.

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The LSG captain was dismissed by Pat Cummins in the 10th over after he holed out to T Natarajan at long leg.

LSG were 57/3 at that stage and were further restricted to 66/4 in the 12th following Krunal Pandya’s wicket. What followed, however, was a valiant fightback from Nicholas Pooran (48*) and Ayush Badoni (55*), who put on an unbeaten 99 runs off 52 deliveries for the fifth wicket. Lucknow eventually managed to post 165/4, a total that Badoni felt bowlers could defend if there was no dew on offer.

As Badoni predicted, there wasn’t much dew. But, Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, the ever-dependable “Travishek” opening duo, defied the odds. Hoping that spinners would be of good use on the slower surface against SRH, Rahul turned to off-break bowler Krishnappa Gowtham to begin the bowling attack.

Travis turning it on, again 🙌#SRHvLSG #TATAIPL #IPLonJioCinema #IPLinTelugu pic.twitter.com/rNMgQ2V1Y9

— JioHotstar Reality (@HotstarReality) May 8, 2024

The first over was largely a disciplined one from Gowtham, barring a boundary off Head in the last ball of that over. However, in just his second over, the all-rounder would get bashed for some merciless boundaries from the Australia big-hitter. Head began with a maximum over the bowler, before slamming a couple more sixes towards the sightscreen later in the over. A total of 22 runs had come off the 35-year-old’s second over and added to Lucknow’s misery as SRH rushed to 47/0 in just three overs.

Abhishek Sharma, meanwhile, had begun his assault even before. In the second over, when he hit four fours off Yash Thakur. The 50-run stand between Abhishek and Head came in less than four overs, courtesy of a maximum from the former over long-on. To be exact, the half-century run partnership came off just 19 balls, the same amount of deliveries Abhishek got to his fifty.

Dot balls were hard to come by for Lucknow and the innings appeared as of a highlights package. Just 14 dot balls were bowled during these 9.4 overs that SRH took to finish the match as Abhishek and Head got going and compelled the bowlers to dance to their tunes.

And just like that, SRH got to 107 inside the powerplay without losing a wicket. That was the second-highest powerplay total this IPL after SRH’s 125/0 against Delhi Capitals (DC) earlier. LSG also missed pacer Mohsin Khan due to a head injury and that hurt their chances big time. In only his first over, Naveen-ul-Haq went for 23 runs as he bowled the fifth over of the chase. SRH were more than halfway through, having reached 87/0 by then. Ravi Bishnoi also got punished by both the openers for regular boundaries.

The heavy defeat left skipper KL Rahul clueless. “Am lost for words. We have watched that kind of batting on tv. But this is unreal batting. Everything seemed to find the middle of the bat. Kudos to their skills. They have worked hard on their six-hitting skills. They didn’t give us a chance to know what the pitch played in the second innings. Was hard to stop them as they teed off from ball one,” Rahul said after the match, adding that the visitors were at least “40-50 runs” short.

The loss leaves LSG with more work left to be done in order to qualify for the playoffs. Two victories in their last two matches would only take them to 16 point s, which may not be enough given that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have an extra game in hand.

CSK (Fourth, 12 points) DC (Fifth, 12 points) and LSG (Sixth, 12 points) are in a tight contest for possibly the fourth playoff spot, and it’s anyone’s guess as to who among the three teams would go through.