Shardul Thakur set the tone, didn’t let Abhishek, Head build pressure: Mitchell Marsh-OxBig News Network

Mitchell Marsh said that Shardul Thakur laid the platform for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their five-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Thursday in the Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

Shardul didn’t let the opening duo of Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head build pressure on the LSG bowlers. The speedster, who joined the Super Giants as a replacement for Mohsin Khan, got the early wickets of Abhishek and Ishan Kishan, after which he came back to get the wickets of Abhinav Manohar and Mohammed Shami.

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It was Shardul’s spell of 4-0-34-4 that restricted SRH to 190 for nine, after which LSG romped home with 23 balls to spare.

“I thought Shardul bowled exceptionally well and set the tone for us early on. Against batsmen like Abhishek and Travis Head, you’re under pressure right away, but Shardul used his experience to great effect. He bowled particularly well towards the end. Overall, it was a solid all-round performance, and it’s great to start the tournament with a win,” Shardul said in the post-match press conference.

‘Prince was really impressive’

Marsh also had words of praise for Prince Yadav, who got the crucial wicket of Head to finish with figures of 4-0-29-1.

“Firstly, I’m really proud of Prince in his second IPL game. The way he bowled and executed his plans was impressive, and I’m sure it will give him a lot of confidence moving forward. As I mentioned the other day, we told him to rely on his depth in this long tournament. For someone like him to get an opportunity early on and step up for us tonight was really impressive,” Shardul added.

The Super Giants will next be up against Shreyas Iyer’s Punjab Kings on Tuesday, April 1 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.