The first week of the 2022 IPL saw the toss playing the most important role in the outcome of the match, with teams opting to field first and successfully chasing the targets. However, things are changing, as SRH vs LSG was the fourth successive game where a team defended their score. Deepak Hooda and KL Rahul’s fifties led LSG’s counterattack, but Avesh Khan was the Player-of-the-Match for his outstanding 4-wicket spell that derailed SRH’s chase. Let’s look at some of the key points from match 12 of the IPL.
De Kock’s struggles against off-spin
Quinton de Kock’s struggles against off-spinners, especially at the start of the innings, are well known. CSK missed a trick in the last game against LSG but SRH weren’t going to repeat the same mistake.
To counter de Kock upfront, Kane Williamson introduced Washington Sundar into the attack in just the second over of the game. Williamson rightly identified the match-up and instantly got rewards for it, as de Kock uppishly hit an inside-out drive to the SRH captain at extra cover. De Kock’s struggles against off-spinners in the Powerplay in the last two seasons of the IPL are shown below.
Umran Malik’s extra pace
Umran Malik is one of the fastest bowlers in the IPL 2022. To consistently bowl at speeds around 150 kmph is extremely difficult, but the 22-year-old is a special and rare talent. Against LSG, Malik’s average speed was more than 145 kmph, and he bowled four balls in excess of 150 kmph, with the fastest clocked at 152.4.
But the youngster was guilty of using excess pace on a pitch that didn’t assist pacers or wasn’t made for extreme pace. On a pitch where the ball held up and there was more on offer for bowlers who bowled cutters and other slower ball variations, Malik’s extra pace just helped the batters time the ball better.
Malik’s pace was used nicely by KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda. In their 87-run stand, the duo scored 39 runs off Malik’s 18 balls, whereas against the others, the pair managed to score just 48 runs off 44 balls.
KL Rahul’s bowling changes
When he was leading the Punjab Kings, KL Rahul was often criticized for his unimaginative captaincy. But against SRH, Rahul was spot on with his tactics and bowling changes.
Instead of going to Avesh Khan, Rahul started the innings with Jason Holder, who can swing the new ball and also get extra bounce with his height. Then to counter both the right-handers, despite being a Powerplay, Rahul then went with Krunal Pandya’s left-arm spin.
However, the boldest move came at the end when SRH needed 33 runs off the last three overs. Teams usually keep the 19th over for their best bowler to provide a cushion to the bowler bowling the last over. Rahul, however, went for the kill and brought back Avesh Khan, who was their best bowler so far, in the 18th over. Khan showed why he was trusted by his skipper by picking up wickets of set Nicholas Pooran and Abdul Samad off consecutive balls.
LSG have started their campaign positively and with most players already making a sizable contribution to their victories, things look bright for the team from Lucknow. SRH, on the other hand, have plenty of problems, and Williamson needs to find a way to win with his young and slightly inexperienced team.