Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are out of the IPL 2025 playoffs race, leaving Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals fighting for the last remaining slot in the top four.
LSG made a storming start to their 12th match of IPL 2025, with Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram putting on 115 at close to 11 runs an over.
But Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)’s bowlers hit back with clever use of the old ball and limited them to 205, a total that proved inadequate in the face of a thrilling display of six-hitting from Abhishek Sharma.
SRH were already out of contention for the playoffs when this match began, but they showed – even without Travis Head, who missed out after a bout of Covid-19 delayed his return to India – that they remain a batting line-up with an immense ceiling, even if the vagaries of form have ensured that they’ve only reached it sporadically this season.
Abhishek hit six sixes in a 20-ball 59, turning his team-mates’ task straightforward; with Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen and Kamindu Mendis also getting past 30, SRH reached their target with ten balls remaining.
Nicholas Pooran pulled off some unorthodox shots•May 19, 2025•BCCI
LSG’s batting, yet again, was over-reliant on their big three, with Nicholas Pooran scoring 45 off 26 balls on the back of the openers’ half-centuries, and no one else reaching double figures. Having scored 108 for no loss in the first ten overs, LSG only managed 97 for 7 in the back half, as SRH’s bowlers pulled them back with their changes of pace.
It’s hard to say if conditions changed during the chase, making batting a little easier for SRH. But LSG’s attack certainly made it appear so; it was an indictment of their resources that the bowler they kept turning to in search of inspiration, Digvesh Rathi, is an uncapped player in his debut IPL season.
Rathi picked up the wickets of Abhishek and Kishan, but SRH were well in control by the time of those strikes. The match officially ended in the 19th over, but its symbolic end came in the 14th, when Kamindu hit Rathi for three clinical, back-to-back fours in his final over. (ESPNcricinfo)
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