It was just not our night! Despite a fantastic half-century by Ayush Badoni and a matching 48 off 26 by Nicholas Pooran, we lost our match to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 10 wickets on Wednesday.

The loss will be a big blow to our playoff hopes this season but as they say, it’s not over till it’s over. The win takes SRH up to the third position on the IPL 2024 points table with 14 points from 12 matches.

We stay sixth with 12 points from 12 matches, the same as fifth-placed Delhi Capitals. Fourth-placed CSK also have 12 points but they have a game in hand.

We are still in the hunt and will need to regroup for our final two group games of the season, starting with the one against Delhi next week. It’ll be a tight race to the finish line but we intend to see it through.

Nicky P-Badoni’s rescue act takes us to 165

Electing to bat first after winning the toss, we were dealt two early blows by Bhuvneshwar Kumar as Quinton de Kock and Marcus Stoinis departed early. 

Some sensible batting from our kaptaan KL Rahul (29 off 33) and Krunal Pandya (24 off 21) steadied our innings on the tricky Hyderabad surface. But just when the two looked ready to move up gears, we lost both in quick succession and found ourselves reeling at 66/4 in the 12th over.

Under pressure, we were desperate for a fruitful partnership. Nicholas Pooran and Ayush Badoni joined forces in the middle and provided exactly that.

After watchfully playing themselves in, Badoni let loose and reached his 50 in just 28 balls before finishing with an unbeaten 55 off 30. His knock featured nine boundaries, including a stunning reverse sweep off Pat Cummins.

Pooran, meanwhile, played the anchor’s role to perfection for the majority of the partnership before finishing with 48 off 26. Nicky P hit 14 off the final four balls of Cummins’ final over to help us to a total of 165/4.

The 99-run partnership between Badoni and Pooran came in just 52 balls.

Head-Sharma lead SRH to victory

Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma got SRH off to a splendid start. Ravi Bishnoi came close to dismissing Sharma in the fourth over but Yash Thakur, despite a full-hearted effort, failed to hold onto what was a difficult catch.

Hyderabad put up 107/0 in the powerplay before wrapping up the affair comfortably in  9.4 overs. Head remained unbeaten on 89 from 30 balls while Sharma scored 75 from 28.

What next for the Super Giants?

We will face Delhi Capitals in our next game next Tuesday.

Brief Scores: Lucknow Super Giants 165/5 in 20 overs (Ayush Badoni 55; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/12) lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad 167/4 in 9.4 overs (Travis Head 89, Krishnappa Gowtham 0/29 in 2 overs) by 10 wickets.