WATCH: Bhuvneshwar Kumar nearly makes stunning save near ropes; eventually concedes six

Deepak Hooda hardly shies away from playing innovative strokes and the approach has helped him gain a lot of benefits. But the same tactic almost led to his dismissal. During Monday’s match between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Hooda got a massive reprieve after a superlative effort from Bhuvneshwar Kumar went in vain.

In the last ball of the 10th over bowled by Umran Malik, Hooda tried to play the upper cut through the third man region. The ball flew towards the boundary and Bhuvneshwar tried his best to catch hold of the ball. But his efforts weren’t enough as he parried the ball over the ropes. Subsequently, Hooda collected a six.

Here’s the video of Bhuvneshwar Kumar putting in the effort

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It was a productive over for the Giants as they collected 20 overs from it. Malik bowled in the 140s and once even crossed the 150 kph mark, but Hooda was not ruffled by the speed. In the first four balls of the over, Hooda collected three fours before fetching a six.

Hooda came to bat in a tricky stage with the Super Giants’ score at 27 for three in 4.5 overs. Romario Shepherd got rid of the experienced Manish Pandey to put pressure on the opposition batting. From there on, the right-handed Hooda took charge and bailed his team out of jail.

He scored 51 runs off 33 balls with the help of three fours and as many sixes. He was also involved in a 87-run stand for the fourth wicket with skipper KL Rahul. Shepherd pinned Hooda in the first ball of the 16th over and gave the Orange Army their fourth wicket.

As far as Bhuvneshwar was concerned, he failed to pick up a wicket in the first three overs he bowled. But he was accurate as the Super Giants’ batters could score 18 runs off his bowling. He also took a catch to dismiss Pandey and give Shepherd his first wicket.

The Super Giants made a nervy start after Washington Sundar removed the dangerous Quinton de Kock and Evin Lewis in pretty quick succession. Rahul, meanwhile, went on to score a half-century.