Lucknow Supergiants batsman Nicholas Pooran, who played a match-winning 44 not out in 13 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad, said on Saturday that if you do not take risks in the T20 format, you will not get benefit. Chasing a target of 183 to win the match, Pooran had an idea that his team would have to score more runs in an over from a part-time spinner. He turned the match towards his team by hitting a hat-trick six against Abhishek Sharma.
Pooran hit four sixes and three fours in his unbeaten innings. Pooran said after the match, “We talked about adjusting during our batting. We knew we could get more runs in one over of spin. Referring to the 31 runs that came from Abhishek’s over, he said, “Everything happened according to me.” I enjoyed my batting. It is important to target the sixth bowler, it is a batsman’s game, if one does not take risks then there will be no reward. Lucknow captain Krunal Pandya praised the team’s bowlers for stopping Sunrisers Hyderabad’s innings within 200 runs.
He said, “The way he was batting, I thought he would score close to 200. Avesh Khan and Yash Thakur bowled well in the last over and got us back in the match. As players will do their work very well. Abhishek’s over turned the tide of the match.
Man of the match Prerak Mankad, who scored 64 off 45 balls in the match, said he was having trouble batting against the spinners at the start of the innings but spending time at the crease made things easier. He said, “I was trying to hit big shots against the spinners but the ball was not coming on the bat properly. I knew Mayank (Markande) would try to get me out and I have played against him in domestic cricket, so I took the risk. Thanks to the management for giving me a chance in the team.
