SRH vs LSG: 'Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma changed the pitch' - Pat Cummins in awe of openers' batting show

Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) played a home game against the KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Wednesday, May 8. The 57th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) was held at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

SRH were invited to bowl first in the match and the bowlers did a fantastic job by restricting LSG to 165/4. Chasing the target, SRH openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma came out all guns blazing and demolished the LSG bowling attack. Head slammed 89 runs in 30 balls while Abhishek Sharma blasted 75 runs in 28 balls to complete the run chase inside 9.4 overs. 

At the post-match presentation ceremony, Pat Cummins said that the duo of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma changed the pitch with their batting. Pat Cummins said:

"(On did he change the pitch) Maybe Travis and Abhishek did. We just let them go, they are two guys who are very positive and I'm a bowler, it is tough for me to give them any inputs."

While speaking about Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, Pat Cummins said that both of them are incredible players and bowling against them is very hard. He stated:

"(On Travis Head) He's been like this for 2 years, he hits the tough areas, hits the middle a lot, might not be super conventional. (On Abhishek Sharma) Just an incredible player of spin and pace. With just 2 fielders out, it is really difficult for the bowlers against them." 

Pat Cummins further said that the par scores in T20 cricket have increased and with the wickets being batting-friendly, the job has become tough for bowlers. Pat Cummins asserted:

"(On where the game is headed) I think the scores have gone up, and when the wickets are good, it is tough to come up with answers against batters when they get going. The boys have had a fantastic season, but to win this with less than 10 overs played is unreal."

Lucknow Super Giants vs Sunrisers Hyderabad Head-to-head Record After Their IPL 2024 Clash

Lucknow Super Giants and Sunrisers Hyderabad faced off each other for the first time on April 4, 2022, at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai. Batting first, KL Rahul (68) and Deepak Hooda (51) smashed half-centuries and took LSG to 169 for 7. Chasing the target, only two SRH batters - Rahul Tripathi (44) and Nicholas Pooran (34) - breached the 30-run mark and they were restricted to 157/9, losing by 12 runs.

In Indian Premier 2023, LSG and SRH locked horns with each other twice and the Lucknow-based franchise won both matches. On April 7, SRH batters showcased a poor performance at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow and only registered 121/8 in the first innings. The bowling unit of the Aiden Markram-led side needed to do something extraordinary to defend the total, which they failed to do and LSG won by 5 wickets.

Then, the two teams went head-to-head with each other at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad on May 13. A combined batting effort saw SRH post a good total of 182/6 on the board. However, LSG comprehensively chased the target and won the match by 7 wickets.

Now after the 4th clash between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League, the head-to-head record stands at SRH 1-3 LSG. 

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• IPL 2024 Points Table