HYDERABAD: The Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium has often produced big totals, but on Sunday Sunrisers Hyderabad found it hard to impose themselves in their home opener, falling to a five-wicket defeat against Lucknow Super Giants. The hosts, despite the reputation for high scoring, struggled to time the ball as the surface behaved differently than expected.
Quick facts
- Match: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
- Venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad
- Result: SRH lost by 5 wickets
- SRH innings: 156/9 (after being 35/4 in the first 10 overs)
- LSG chase: completed the target with 1 ball remaining
- Player of the Match: Mohammed Shami (2/9)
SRH assistant coach James Franklin said his side were taken aback by how the pitch played. After the loss, he noted that a couple of dismissals reflected the challenge of reading the surface, adding that LSG’s bowling in the power-play kept the scoring rate under tight control.
Franklin pointed to the way the ball behaved once it made contact with the pitch. He felt that while the stadium has typically offered a fast route to runs, SRH’s batters had difficulty finding the right rhythm, especially as the ball moved and didn’t come onto the bat cleanly.
The numbers underlined that momentum shift. SRH were reduced to 35/4 within the first ten overs, and even though they steadied after that, they could only reach 156/9. Lucknow then knocked off the target successfully, finishing the chase with a ball to spare.
Franklin also highlighted Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen as key reasons the bowlers had something to aim at. In his view, their ability to accelerate more freely during the latter part of the innings came from time spent in the middle, which helped them find better options as the field spread and strike could be rotated.
Shami’s plan: pace control and variations
On the Lucknow side, fast-bowling spearhead Mohammed Shami said the team had put significant work in behind the scenes to limit the SRH batters. He explained that their strategy was to deny batters space and to bowl slower deliveries alongside variations, because those are often the hardest for batters to score off.
Shami stressed that when the execution matches the plan, results follow—and he appeared pleased that it all came together. His Player of the Match display featured figures of 2/9, rewarding an effort built around discipline and control.
He also underlined the pressure created during his spell, noting that he produced 18 dot balls in his four overs. That run of unanswered deliveries tightened the contest, forcing SRH to work for scoring opportunities and limiting easy boundaries.
Shami revealed that he put in extensive preparation with the new ball, tailoring his lengths and match-ups to the conditions. He said knowing what to bowl in the specific environment required hard work, and that preparation helped him carry out his role with clarity.
The pacer added that past collaboration played a part as well. He credited working with LSG’s bowling coach Bharat Arun during earlier times, noting that they had both been part of the Indian setup and understood each other’s style, which made the adjustment to the Lucknow setup smoother.
Shami wrapped up by saying that joining the Lucknow team didn’t take long and feels natural to him, describing it as something close to a “second home.”
