By: Vivek Mishra
Yash Thakur’s five-wicket haul on Sunday powered Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to a comfortable 33-run win over Gujarat Titans (GT) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match. This was Lucknow’s first win over Gujarat in IPL history.
The Gujarat side, chasing 164 to win, were all out for 130 in 18.5 overs after Marcus Stoinis made a fifty, as Lucknow made 163 for five.
Thakur returned figures of 5 for 30 and Krunal Pandya with 3 for 11 to take Lucknow to victory in the 21st match of this edition of the T20 tournament.
The 25-year-old Thakur, who is yet to play internationally, wrapped up the match with two wickets in the 19th over as Lucknow beat Gujarat for the first time in five attempts in IPL.
Thakur, after his maiden five-wicket haul in the IPL, said that he does not feel the pressure of expectations and is happy when people expect him to win games.
“I enjoy this responsibility of winning games for the team. We knew that the wicket was slow, so the plan that we discussed, we stuck to it. Even if we got hit for runs, we would stick to it (the plan). KL Rahul told us we will get success,” he said after the game.
Marcus Stoinis hit 58 to guide Lucknow to 163-5, a total which looked below-par, but the Lucknow bowlers, including spinner Krunal Pandya who took three wickets, made sure it was enough.
Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi took a stunning return catch off his own leg-spin to dismiss Gujarat’s impact substitute Kane Williamson for one.
Left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya, elder brother of Mumbai’s Hardik Pandya, struck twice in one over, including the wicket of Sai Sudarshan for 31, to derail the opposition chase.
Thakur then bowled a double wicket maiden over to flatten the batting and went on to take his first-ever five-wicket haul in T20 cricket.
Previously, these teams had played each other four times across the 2022 and 2023 seasons, with Gujarat emerging victorious in all the games.
(AFP)
