Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) registered a comprehensive five-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their IPL 2023 opener on Friday (April 7).
Spinners ruled the roost for LSG at Ekana Cricket Stadium. While left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya returned with the figures of 3/18 in four overs, veteran leggie Amit Mishra produced a stunning spell of 2 for 23 in his quota of four overs as the hosts restricted SRH to 121/8 and then chased down the target with 24 balls to spare.
After the game, LSG skipper KL Rahul said he had no doubts about utilising spinners early on in the game.
"Yesterday (when did he know how the pitch would play?). We've been here for a couple of weeks now. Knew what we were getting into (nature of the pitch)," Rahul said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
"We saw in the first couple of overs: when Jaydev bowled a few cutters, they were gripping. Was a no-brainer to bowl spin early. I knew KP is better in the powerplay," he added.
Rahul also praised the batting unit for adapting well to the situation.
"First instinct when I saw both pitches was that we'll need to bat smartly here. We've adapted well as a batting unit. Each person plays very differently. Just have been a couple of chats with the batting group to help each other out. Good to see the players are going there and putting in the practice," he stated.
On the other hand, SRH skipper Aiden Markram rued his team’s batting failure, admitting that they didn’t put enough runs on the board.
"Not enough runs, tried to get to 150-160 but lost too many wickets and didn't get any momentum going. We realized it wasn't going to be a great wicket to bat in terms of history, but we were happy to fight. They bowled brilliantly according to the conditions. Good effort from our bowlers, we didn't give them enough runs to play with but they fought hard," Markram stated.
Lucknow Super Giants will next face Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 10, while Sunrisers Hyderabad will take on Punjab Kings at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on April 9.
(With ANI Inputs)
