Chasing a massive target of 228 built on a brilliant unbeaten century by Rishabh Pant and an equally impressive half-century by Mitchell Marsh, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were in trouble, down to 123/4 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the last league match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.
They had lost Virat Kohli, their best batter in IPL 2025, who scored a quick-fire 54 of 30 balls, studded with 10 boundaries, and had rescued them from 90/3 that they had landed in after losing Rajat Patidar (14) and Liam Livingstone (0) off successive balls bowled by Will O'Rourke.
RCB had to win the match to finish among the top two in the standings, which would have given them a place in Qualifier 1 against Punjab Kings. Defeat would have meant they finished third behind Punjab Kings (19) and Gujarat Titans (18) and would have played a winner-takes-all clash with the fourth-placed Mumbai Indians.
With Kohli out, the onus was on Jitesh Sharma, who is standing in as captain in place of regular skipper Patidar, and Mayank Agarwal to revive the innings.
When Virat (Kohli) bhai was out, I was just thinking of taking it deep. As my mentor and guru Dinesh [Karthik] anna says, just take it deep. I was getting cramps because all the load was on me! I have Virat bhai, Krunal bhai (Krunal Pandya), and Bhuvi bhai (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) with me. I feel excited that I'm playing with them.
Sharma did take it deep, very deep, and in doing so, hammered a mesmerizing 33-ball unbeaten 85 (4x8, 6x6) and along with Mayank Agarwal, who slammed a 41 not out off 23 balls (4x5), raised 107 runs for the unfinished fifth wicket partnership that took RCB to 230/4 in 18.4 overs, sealing a six-wicket victory that secured them the second spot in the standings and a place in Qualifier 1 against Punjab Kings on May 29.
With Sharma, who was caught by Ayush Badoni off a back-foot no-ball by Digvesh Rathi, going for his shots as he raced to his half-century off 22 balls and Agarwal played an able foil by rotating the strike and hitting occasional boundaries. Sharma was also out when Rathi ran him out at the non-striker's end for walking out of the crease even before the ball was delivered. However, skipper Pant withdrew the appeal.
RCB reached 200/4 after 17 overs, needing 28 runs from 18 balls. With the umpires changing the ball, Rishabh Pant brought in O'Rourke. Sharma blasted two fours and two sixes, off successive balls, for 21 runs from the over and sealed the issue in favour of RCB.
I will not be able to express my thoughts! I can't believe I played that knock.
Earlier, Pant, who had struggled throughout the tournament, found his touch in their final league match and blazed to a 54-ball century and shared a 152-run partnership for the second wicket with Mitchell Marsh, who scored 67 off 32 balls to help Lucknow Super Giants post the highest total at the Ekana Stadium.
Pant started with a 2,6,2,4,0,4 blitz against Yash Dayal in the fourth over and went from strength to strength from there as LSG posted a massive score.
Pant hammered 11 boundaries and eight maximums for an unbeaten 118 off 61 balls, batting in the third and fourth gear throughout the match. Nicholas Pooran scored 13 off 10 balls and was out in the final over as LSG set up the biggest chase for RCB that Jitesh Sharma helped them ace with ease.
Brief Scores: Lucknow Super Giants 226/3 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 118 not out, Mitchell Marsh 67; Nuwan Thushara 1-26, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-44) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 230/4 in 18.4 overs (Virat Kohli 54, Jitesh Sharma 85 not out, Mayank Agarwal 41 not out; Will O’Rourke 2-74) by six wickets.
