In a do-or-die encounter at the Ekana Stadium, Lucknow Super Giants lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets, thereby falling out of contention for the playoffs. Abhishek Sharma’s 20-ball 59 headlined SRH’s pursuit of 206 – the highest successful chase in the IPL in Lucknow – rendering 60s by Mitchell Marsh (65) and Aiden Markram (61) futile.
Now either of Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals will accomplish the remaining playoff spot.
What was the deciding factor?
Both the teams were on an even keel after the PowerPlay, but it was in the middle overs where SRH rode on Eshan Malinga’s slower deliveries to keep LSG in check. SRH, on the other hand, pipped LSG by 22 runs in this phase and even managed to hoard 26 in an over by Ravi Bishnoi.
Marsh, Markram get LSG going
The IPL break didn’t seem to have fazed the tempo of LSG’s openers. Mitchell Marsh kicked off the innings in spectacular style, with a boundary over point and followed it with an emphatic pull off Pat Cummins, setting an early harbinger. Debutant Harsh Dubey almost sent the Australian packing on his first ball, but Ishan Kishan messed up behind the stumps. Marsh went after Dubey post the fumble, hitting a six down the ground. Dubey’s economy continued to suffer in his second, with Aiden Markram taking over as the aggressor, lofting a four and a six to produce a 17-run over. The right-handers kept their foot on the pedal against Harshal Patel and Eshan Malinga, scoring 12 runs off each, as the hosts rustled up the joint second-highest scores in PowerPlay in Lucknow.
Sunrisers pick up the pieces after Marsh’s mayhem
SRH summoned Zeeshan Ansari into the attack, and he fired the ball onto middle and leg stump, disallowing the batters room to free their arms. It is, however, common knowledge that margins in T20 cricket are infinitesimal, so when the leggie bungled up one delivery Markram dispatched it over the stands. While Marsh crossed fifty, his partner received a life as Aniket Verma spilled a catch before the two batters notched up the 100-run stand in the 10th over. The fielding blemishes didn’t end there, with Marsh surviving another dropped catch off Harshal’s bowling.
Dubey ultimately picked up his maiden IPL wicket in the form of Marsh, and that applied the brakes on the scoring rate as Malinga varied his pace in a well-constructed over against Rishabh Pant. The Sri Lankan bamboozled the LSG skipper with a slower ball and held onto the return catch, extending Pant’s torrid form. Despite Markram reaching his fifth 50 this IPL, LSG made little progress towards the end of the middle phase as the SRH attack took pace off and bowled away from the batters’ slogging arcs.
STAND and DELIVER! 💪
A glimpse of the clean hitting on display from the 1⃣1⃣5⃣-run opening stand that powered #LSG 🙌
Updates ▶ https://t.co/GNnZh911Xr#TATAIPL | #LSGvSRH | @LucknowIPL pic.twitter.com/iB6LWUgoLu
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 19, 2025
SRH’s profligacy undoes Malinga’s laudable efforts
Phase score – 59/5 [RR: 9.83, 4s/6s: 5/3]
Just when SRH were clawing back into the contest, Harshal bowled a no-ball which Markram hoisted over the fence before he strayed on the pads to Nicholas Pooran to leak more runs. Renowned for his clever change-ups, Harshal however bowled a fine slower-ball yorker to see the back of Markram for 61. LSG found shot-making tricky against Malinga as he offered little pace to work with and also scalped his second wicket in Ayush Badoni. Having done the hard yards to wrestle back the momentum, the contest, Harshal let slip a wayward nine-ball over which went for 15 runs. Nitish Reddy was entrusted with the responsibility to bowl the final over, an eventful one which saw the delivery of nine balls, an output of 19 runs and two run-out dismissals as LSG surpassed the 200-run mark.
SRH match LSG’s PowerPlay pyrotechnics
The Sunrisers were in a belligerent mood in the PowerPlay, as they often are, with Abhishek Sharma receiving able support from fellow southpaws Atharva Taide and Ishan Kishan. It was Taide who began proceedings with a four through mid-wicket. He followed it up with two not-so-convincing boundaries over third-man against debutant William O’Rourke before the bowler got him to hole out to the deep fielder in the same region. Akash Deep, on the other hand, splurged 17 runs in an over as SRH went toe-to-toe with LSG’s PowerPlay onslaught. Abhishek escaped a tough chance at mid-off which rolled into the fence before carving the ball over point for six off the New Zealander as he continued to express himself in typical fashion. Despite Digvesh Rathi sneaking in a six-run over, Avesh Khan gave away two boundaries as SRH showed no signs of stopping.
Bishnoi under the pump as Abhishek breathes fire
Ravi Bishnoi bowled his one and only over after the PowerPlay, where all hell broke loose as Abhishek smothered four sixes off him and registered his 50 in the process. Digvesh was once again brought in to calm the rampaging batter down and he did the job by inducing a false shot from Abhishek. The ploy to get Markram to roll his arm over didn’t work for LSG as Kishan scythed a four and a six through the on-side. Heinrich Klaasen joined the party with two boundaries and a six before a reverse-sweep spelt the downfall of Kishan. The impetus wasn’t exactly robbed, although, as Kamindu Mendis played three delightful strokes to clinch as many boundaries.
SRH amble to the finish line thereby eliminating LSG
With only 35 required with seven wickets in hand, the writing was on the wall for LSG. Klaasen hit a couple of boundaries prior to being caught-behind for 47 as the 55-run stand between the two overseas players came to an end. An injury scare then ensued for SRH as Kamindu retired hurt after attempting a tight single and hurting his hamstring. Aniket and Nitish then finished the job with a flurry of boundaries as LSG dropped out of the race to the playoffs.
