Nicholas Pooran said that he, and the Lucknow Super Giants team management, were waiting for that one over in the last five that would be bowled by a Sunrisers Hyderabad spinner, and that's the one they were waiting for. It came in the form of Abhishek Sharma's part-time left-arm spin, and between them, Marcus Stoinis and Pooran took 31 from it.
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It was the 16th over of LSG's chase of 183. They needed 69 from 30 balls. Aiden Markram threw the ball to Abhishek, and Stoinis hit him for two sixes before holing out trying to hit a third. That's when Pooran walked out and hit his first three balls for six, becoming only the second player to do so in IPL history. For Pooran, it was the perfect match-up, the left-armer bowling into him.
"We spoke at the break [the second strategic time out] and we felt like we needed sixes to win the game," Pooran told the broadcaster after the game. "At that stage, we knew that they had one spinner to bowl and obviously we felt that once that spinner comes on we need to target him.
"Stoiny [Stoinis] targeted him the first two balls but unfortunately got out in the third ball and left-arm orthodox is my match-up, so I was happy to walk in and bat three balls off a left-arm orthodox. That got my innings going, so thank you to Sunrisers for that, but I really enjoyed that as well."
The 31-run over proved to be game-changing as it allowed LSG a way back into the match and they went on to register a seven-wicket win. Pooran ended on 44 not out from 13 balls.
"T20 cricket is a batsman's game. And I believe that part-timers, there's a reason for part-timers. Either they are on for wickets or you can target them," Pooran said. "This game is all about taking risks. No risks no rewards. I think it was really important in this game and once it's your match-up, you need to make it count."
Super Giants captain Krunal Pandya said that with batters like Stoinis, who scored 40 off 25 despite a slow start, and Pooran, the team always had belief that they could chase down the target.
"The biggest thing what we need as a team and individuals is belief. We had that belief. Plus, players like Pooran, Stoin, they can do something [special]," Krunal said. "Pooran can do special things, he's a special player. Whenever I see him batting, the self-belief and confidence that he has, it's tremendous. We had that belief that we can chase it down."
He said that there was no "special message" sent out during the strategic time out and that it was a simple conversation that they needed to go boom or bust.
"We knew that we had to go. Almost 80-90 [80] runs we needed in the last six and we had to go after that over," Krunal said. "Luckily it paid [off] to us that Abhishek bowled that over and he went for five sixes and that changed the momentum."