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SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper and birthday boy Pat Cummins matched the fielding efforts of his peers by completing a brilliant direct hit to dismiss Lucknow Suepr Giants' (LSG) all-rounder Krunal Pandya in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Cummins' brilliant piece of dismissal helped SRH mount more pressure on the visitors in the crucial encounter.
The SunRisers were firmly in command of proceedings from the word go after being put into bowl first by KL Rahul. They maintained the pressure in the middle overs after a prolific powerplay with the ball. LSG were looking for any sort of partnership to repair their innings and build on after laying a platform. However, SRH did not give the opposition any sort of momentum by striking at regular intervals.
In the 12th over of the innings, Krunal Pandya attempted a quick single after pushing a T Natarajan delivery to mid-off. Pat Cummins, however, not standing at the edge of the circle, rushed in and released the ball quickly, and completed the direct hit, uprooting the middle stump entirely.
Replays showed that Krunal Pandya was well short of his crease, and he had to depart after scoring 24 runs off 21 deliveries.
Have a look at the brilliant piece of fielding right here:
The dismissal reduced LSG to 66/5 in the first innings. The contest is crucial with respect to the ongoing playoff race in IPL 2024, with only NRR separating the two sides.
Pat Cummins and company have inflicted serious damage on LSG by their faultless fielding
SRH made an instant impact with their fielding in the ongoing clash. Firstly, Nitish Kumar Reddy took a spectacular catch by the boundary to dismiss Quinton de Kock. Then, Sanvir Singh took a brilliant catch at mid on to send back Marcus Stoinis inside the powerplay.
Those flashes of brilliance have had a telling impact on the proceedings in what is a slow surface, where every run will prove to be crucial. Apart from his contribution in the form of the direct hit, Cummins picked up KL Rahul's wicket off the second over of his spell.
