IPL 2025: Ball wasn't coming on well, tough to bat, says Sudharsan after gritty fourth fifty

Lucknow, April 12 (IANS) Opener Sai Sudharsan reflected on how it was a difficult pitch to bat on at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium after he stitched a 120-run stand with skipper Shubman Gill against the Lucknow Super Giants.

Despite the duo having breached the 100-run mark within 10 overs, courtesy of a strong showing in the powerplay, the rest of the Gujarat batting lineup failed to get going as the side ended at 180/6 in 20 overs.

"It was difficult today, not coming on well, but me and Shubhi [Gill] had a lovely six overs of powerplay and that gave us momentum and gave us a good platform to finish good. The first few overs we didn't feel [the wicket would slow down], once the shine wore off the wicket started getting different.

“We had a conversation that the wicket could get slow but at the same time we didn't want to reduce our momentum and strike rate so it would be easier for us to finish well. Change of pace in the right areas were very difficult for the batters. A lot of balls are going low also and the slower ones are holding in the wicket. So it'll be difficult to bat on," said Sudharsan in the mid-innings chat with broadcasters.

It seemed as though Gujarat were on pace for a 200+ score but Gill, Sudharsan and Washington departed within a span of two overs to rack the pressure on the middle order. Two wickets each by Ravi Bishnoi and Shardul Thaklur halted the momentum for Gujarat. Digvesh Rathi and Avesh Khan also claimed a wicket each to their name.

Although Lucknow have shown their potential to score and chase big targets with Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh and Nicolas Pooras firing on all cylinders, a lot of pressure will be on Rishabh Pant on the day as he will open the innings alongside Markram as Marsh missed out on the game as he is aiding to his sick daughter, as revealed by Pant ahead of the game. Delhi batter Himmat Singh was named as Marsh’s replacement for the game.

--IANS

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