SunRisers Hyderabad came very close to pulling off a terrific result against Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday. Despite not getting over the line, a spirited all-round performance showed glimpses of what this team is capable of on its day. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen starred with the bat, putting together a sensational fifth-wicket partnership after a not-so-ideal start to the innings. With the ball, Harsh Dubey and Shivang Kumar spun a web around the opposition, but our opponents managed to pull off the run chase in the final over. On a very tricky wicket to bat on, the onus fell on Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen to rebuild the innings. The duo did extremely well to read the conditions and take the innings deep. Boundaries didn’t come easy in the first half, but once Nitish and Klaasen settled in, they shifted gears heading into the final overs. Nitish played some delightful shots to cheer the home fans, while Klaasen’s power was on full display as both batters brought up brilliantly crafted half-centuries. Klaasen finished with 62 off 41 balls, while Nitish scored 56 off 33. Their partnership accounted for 116 runs, the highest fifth-wicket stand for SRH. We finished with 156 runs in our 20 overs. After the break, Eshan Malinga provided our first breakthrough in the fifth over. Just when a partnership seemed to be building later on, Shivang Kumar dismissed Aiden Markram to put us back in the contest. It was Shivang’s first wicket in the TATA IPL. In the middle overs, our bowlers tightened the screws to take the game deep. Shivang, Harsh Dubey, and Harshal Patel didn’t allow the batters to score freely and kept us in the contest until the end. Lucknow Super Giants gained the upper hand in the dying moments and won with a ball to spare. Once again, our bowlers backed themselves brilliantly under difficult circumstances, which is a huge boost for the team. Skipper Ishan Kishan was full of praise for the bowlers and said, “I think the bowlers did an extremely good job today. They bowled according to the plan in the right areas, and credit also goes to the fielders for putting in all the effort.” We will be heading to Mullanpur next to face Punjab Kings on April 11. Brief Scores: SunRisers Hyderabad 156/8 in 20 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 52, Abhishek Sharma 48, Travis Head 46, Nitish Kumar Reddy 39) beat Lucknow Super Giants 160/5 in 19.5 overs (Harsh Dubey 2/18, Shivang Kumar 1/30, Eshan Malinga 1/30)