It was as if Lucknow Super Giants and hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad were batting on entirely different pitches at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Wednesday. In their crucial IPL game, which both sides needed to win to bolster their chances of qualifying for the play-offs, the LSG top-order came a cropper. And then the SRH openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma simply blew their bowlers away.

Electing to bat, LSG were off to a torrid start, managing just 27 runs in the powerplay. After the first 13 overs, they had crawled to 73/4. Only a spirited fightback by Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran helped them finish on a competitive 165 as the two took 92 runs in the last seven overs during a partnership of 99 (52 balls).

Head and Sharma then put on some exhibition. Arguably the most explosive opening pair in the league finished the chase in 9.4 overs, crush LSG by 10 wickets to rise to third on the points table. Facing 42 balls each, Head’s dazzling 89 not out (8 fours, 8 sixes) was matched by young Abhishek’s 75 not out (8 fours, 6 sixes).

The win lifted SRH on the table with 14 points from 12 games. At 12 points from 12 games, LSG remained sixth and face a tough task to make it to the top four. Apart from needing to recover from the psychological scars of this drubbing, LSG play their last two games away.

LSG captain KL Rahul watched in disbelief from behind the stumps. He was at the crease till the end of 10th over, but managed only one six and one four in a 33-ball 29. Head and Abhishek smashed 13 fours and eight sixes in just the first six overs, powering SRH to 107/0. They made a mockery of the target, reducing the equation to 59 off 84 balls.

Head was brutal. The Australian batter had raced to 58 off 18 balls with seven fours and five sixes while Abhishek was close behind on 46 off 18 balls with six fours and three sixes.

Looking at their early struggles, LSG were certain the pitch was too slow and began their defence with spinner Kishnappa Gowtham. Head and Abhishek gave Gowtham some allowance in the first over, content with eight runs. That was the only respectable over for the LSG bowlers. The opening pair went berserk after that. In his second over, Gowtham was smashed for three sixes and a four by Head before going after LSG’s main leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi in a fourth over, scoring 17 runs. Rahul turned to the pace of Naveen-ul-Haq only for Head to smash him for four fours and a six. SRH's 100 was up in 5.4 overs.

LSG had the dubious distinction of registering their slowest PP score of 27 runs. Their 100 came in the 15th over. SRH finished the chase inside 10 overs.

Earlier, in a season where the fielding standards have seen a dip, SRH players produced an electric fielding display to provide an ideal start in their crucial game. They backed Bhuvneshwar Kumar's fine bowling with the new ball with two brilliant catches, by Nitish Reddy and Simran Singh. Captain Pat Cummins produced a stunning direct hit to cut short Krunal Pandya’s promising innings.

Putting on an exhibition of seam bowling, Bhuvneshwar finished with figures of 4-0-12-2.

SRH gave a debut to Sri Lankan leg-spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, who hails from Jaffna, making him the first cricketer born-and-bred from that northern city to play in an internationally televised game.

Introduced in the seventh over, he started with a tidy over, of just three runs, and would be pleased with figures of 4-0-27-0.

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