"We were good in patches but did not close out the game." That's how Rishabh Pant described the season for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 as they went down to Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets in a must-win clash at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
Pant is spot on about how LSG have gone about their job this season, and Monday's clash was a prime example of how they have had their chances but failed to capitalise on them and go all the way. LSG thus crashed out of the contention for a playoff spot, leaving it out for Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals to fight it out for the lone spot to join Gujarat Titans, Punjab Kings, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the knockout phase.
Asked to bat first, openers Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram struck identical 28-ball half-centuries on their way to scoring 65 (off 39 balls, 4x5, 6x6) and 61 (38 balls, 4x4, 4x6), respectively and with Nicholas Pooran (45) making a vital contribution, LSG were in a good position to post a massive score. Marsh and Markram shared a 115-run partnership for the first wicket, setting up the foundation for a big score.
But LSG made a hash of their chances. Pant was out for seven and Ayush Badoni for 3 as from 118 for 1 in 11 overs, LSG could only manage 50 for 2 in their next six overs to be 168/3 in 17 overs. SRH, who were sloppy in the field and dropped three catches, applied pressure on the home side and lost wickets, three of them in the 20th over, and managed to post 205/7.
Pant agreed that they fell short by around 10 runs.
Sometimes things go your way, sometimes they don't. We take pride in the way we played and will look at the positives. We have a strong batting firepower. Even for bowlers, there were times when they were bowling in good areas. We were trying to make the best of it. We knew we were ten runs short. We were good in patches but did not close out the game.
Defending 205/7, LSG ran into a rampant Abhishek Sharma, who blazed to an 18-ball half-century, slamming four successive sixes in one Ravi Bishnoi over. Digvesh Rathi gave LSG another chance as he got Abhishek Sharma out, caught by Shardul Thakur while trying to blast a googly pitched outside off for a big one. Rathi then got Ishan Kishan out, bowled when he tried an over-ambitious and unnecessary reverse hit.
LSG, however, failed to press home the advantage while SRH had Heinrich Klaasen (47) and Kamindu Mendis (32) play sensibly for well-controlled knocks and guided Sunrisers Hyderabad to a six-wicket victory. Klaasen was out when he was just trying to cut loose with SRH needing 19 runs off 18 balls.
Klaasen struck a couple of fours and then got out. Mendis hurt his hamstring and went off, retired hurt, but Nitish Kumar Reddy ensured that they reached 206/4 in 18.2 overs and won the match by six wickets.
After the extended break, it was tough coming back. To be able to pull off a difficult chase was a fantastic effort. The last few games were about projecting for next season. Kamindu (Mendis) and Eshan Malinga complemented what Klaasen and Abhishek pulled off. Some pitches allow you to take on the aggressive style. We understand teams are going to come hard.
Brief Scores: Lucknow Super Giants 205/7 in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 65, Aiden Markram 61, Nicholas Pooran 45; Eshan Malinga 2-28, Harsh Dubey 1-44) lost to Sunriser Hyderabad 206/4 in 18.2 overs (Abhishek Sharma 59, Ishan Kishan 35, Heinrich Klaasen 47, Kamindu Mendis 32; Digvesh Rathi 2-37) by six wickets.
