Hyderabad, April 5 Mohammed Shami's inspiring opening spell proved crucial as the Lucknow Super Giants restricted Sunrisers Hyderabad to 156 for 9, despite a fantastic counter-attacking century stand by Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy in an IPL match here on Sunday.
After being in a difficult position with the scorecard reading a dismal 35 for 4 after the first 10 overs, Klaasen (62 off 41 balls) and Reddy (56 off 33 balls) adopted an aggressive approach, with balls consistently flying into the stands in a record-breaking fifth-wicket partnership of 116 runs in 10.3 overs.
However, once both batsmen were dismissed in quick succession, LSG once again managed to restrict the home team to under 160.
This was after Shami's incredible figures of 4-0-9-2, which included 18 dot balls, effectively putting Sunrisers Hyderabad under pressure as the celebrated top three of Travis Head (7), Abhishek Sharma (0), and captain Ishan Kishan (1) were back in the pavilion.
To make matters worse, hard-hitting Liam Livingstone also got out, thanks to smart fielding by LSG captain Rishabh Pant.
However, once the final 10 overs began, things suddenly changed as the next five overs (from 11 to 15) produced a remarkable 79 runs, with leg-spinner Digvesh Rathi taking 36 runs in his next two overs after having conceded only 10 runs in his first two overs.
The Indian pacers Avesh Khan and Prince Yadav, who had been impressive in the first 10 overs, suddenly lost their rhythm and accuracy as Klaasen and Reddy mostly hit through the line. In the first 10 overs, only one six and one four were hit, but the Klaasen-Reddy pair managed seven sixes and eight boundaries.
Shami excels
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35-year-old Shami, who has often been overlooked, once again sent a strong message to the national selection committee with his outstanding opening spell, which was crucial to the Lucknow Super Giants restricting Sunrisers Hyderabad despite the Klaasen-Reddy partnership.
Shami removed IPL's most destructive opening pair of Abhishek and Head off successive deliveries in his first two overs, setting the tone.
The experienced Shami quickly understood that he needed to reduce the pace of his deliveries on this track, and he did so effectively.
He bowled four full, accurate deliveries to Head, allowing only one run. When Abhishek came to the crease, the final delivery of the opening over was a slower, fuller delivery on the fifth stump, which the opener tried to pitch.
Instead of a conventional slip, a 'fly slip' or short third-man was stationed, and Manimaran Siddharth took a smart diving catch. Off the very first delivery of his next over, Shami bowled a slower one on length, which gripped and bounced more, forcing Head to check his drive, but the uppish shot was caught by Aiden Markram at mid-off.
