The 58th game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 featured a clash between the 2016 season champions Sunrisers Hyderabad and the KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday, May 13.
Batting first, Sunrisers Hyderabad posted 182 runs on the board for Lucknow to chase. However, the Krunal Pandya-led side came in with all guns blazing, as excellent knocks by Prerak Mankad and Nicholas Pooran propelled the visitors to a brilliant victory by seven wickets.
Pooran put in a masterclass of a knock in the game, the 27-year-old Windies keeper-batter scored 44* runs in just 13 deliveries. Hitting three fours and four sixes in the process. Pooran’s knock was crucial to Lucknow winning the game, and his blistering knock even made the former Hyderabad coach Tom Moody’s head turn.
Pooran previously worked with Moody when he represented Hyderabad; however, the 27-year-old was unable to perform to the best of his abilities back then. Seeing his knock against his former team SRH, Moody took to Twitter to reflect on his performance. “What a remarkable finish from Nicky Pooran, the irony of it all he was bought at the auction by SRH last year to do just this,” Moody tweeted.
Lucknow Super Giants keep their playoff hopes alive
After their brilliant win against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Lucknow Super Giants made their way back into the top four of the IPL points table; they currently have 13 points in 12 games. They have two group stage matches left so far, and the Krunal Pandya-led side would be keen on winning both of them to solidify their place in the knockout stages of the tournament.
For their next two games, Lucknow face Mumbai Indians at the Ekana Sports City Stadium for the 63rd game of the tournament. Furthermore, they take on the Nitish Rana-led Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens for the 68th game of the tournament on Saturday, May 20.