Hyderabad, April 5 -- It was a contest shaped at two ends of the game- first by the quiet domination of Mohammed Shami, and then by the assured finish of Rishabh Pant, as Lucknow Super Giants clinched a five-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their Indian Premier League clash at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Sunday.
Shami's spell was less about spectacle and more about suffocation.
Operating with a scrambled seam and relentless discipline, he turned the powerplay into a phase of hesitation. There was no release shot, no easy scoring option- only questions for the batters. His variations in pace, especially the subtle cutters, forced Hyderabad's top order into indecision.
The dismissal of Abhishek Sharma came off a cl...