Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) consultant Adam Voges was left speechless after Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) brutally destroyed his team, handing the visitors a thumping defeat in a one-sided match in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match. SRH destroyed LSG, dominating them with the new ball at first and then chasing 166 in 9.4 overs, beating LSG by 10 wickets, the fastest 10-over score in T20. The brilliant batting of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, who reached fifty in 16 and 19 balls respectively, shared the highest powerplay scores in the history of T20 cricket by scoring a century stand in the powerplay for the second time this IPL.
“I think we're all a little bit impressed with what we've just seen. I think sometimes you have to tip your hat and say to the opponent, well played. I think I missed, one or two balls hit it.” the nine and a few overs we threw at them. That was incredible punching and hitting. We clearly had no answer,” Voges said at a post-match press conference
Thanks to the explosive combination of Head and Sharma, Hyderabad got off to a flying start. Not a single bowler got any breathing space from either batter. Head and Abhishek both reached their half-centuries off less than twenty balls each, denying every bowler a chance. While Head hit 89 runs off just 30 deliveries, Abhishek Sharma scored 75 runs in just 28 balls and the dup continued to push boundaries with their first swing.
“I haven't spoken to the boys yet about whether there was a difference in terms of the innings, but our powerplay compared to Sunrisers was clearly at the two extremes. We were under enormous pressure with the ball from the start. Those were us too.” I can't apply the same pressure with the bat to begin with,” he added.
The Super Giants were reeling at 66/4 in 11.2 overs when the pair came together. The duo of Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran managed to build an unbeaten stand of 99 runs in 52 balls, giving LSG some hope of a competitive total. Moving into the crease and controlling the field, Badoni led the attack and reached fifty in 28 balls.
Voges said the partnership between Badoni and Pooran gave LSG a fighting chance, but the total of 165 “was clearly not enough.”
“I thought our backend of the innings was really good. The partnership between Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran got us, it was probably still below par, but at least it gave us a fighting chance. But that clearly wasn't enough” , said Voges.
The loss was LSG's sixth in the IPL 2024, and due to the wide margin of defeat, it also severely damaged their net run-rate. They are currently ranked sixth after falling below Delhi Capitals in the latest rankings.
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