The high-voltage LSG vs SRH match turned out to be a one-sided affair, thanks to Abhishek Sharma, who hammered a blazing 18-ball fifty. His explosive innings helped Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) crush Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and officially knock them out of the playoff race. This LSG vs SRH battle showcased SRH’s dominance and Abhishek’s fearless batting.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated the Lucknow Super Giants 205 for 7 (Marsh 65, Markram 61, Pooran 45, Malinga 2-28) by six wickets with 206 for 4 (Abhishek 59, Klaasen 47, Rathi 2-37).
With the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) eliminated from the IPL 2025 playoffs, the Delhi Capitals (DC) and Mumbai Indians (MI) are vying for the final spot in the top four.
Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram put on 115 at over 11 runs per over as LSG got off to a fast start in their 12th game. However, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) bowlers responded with a deft use of the old ball and held them to 205, an insufficient score against Abhishek Sharma’s spectacular six-hitting outburst.
Even without Travis Head,
Who missed out because a bout of COVID-19 delayed his return to India, SRH demonstrated that they are still a batting lineup with a huge ceiling, even though the whims of form have made it so they have only occasionally reached it this season. SRH was already out of the running for the playoffs when this match started.
With six sixes in a 20-ball 59, Abhishek made his teammates’ job easy. With 10 balls left, SRH accomplished their target after Heinrich Klaasen, Kamindu Mendis, and Ishan Kishan all reached 30.
After the openers’ half-centuries, Nicholas Pooran scored 45 off 26 balls, but no one else reached double figures, demonstrating once again how over-reliant LSG’s batting was on their big three. LSG only managed 97 for 7 in the second half after scoring 108 for no loss in the first ten overs. LSG Vs SRH This was due to SRH’s bowlers’ ability to shift speed and bring them back.
It’s difficult to say whether the chase conditions improved and made SRH’s batting a little simpler. However, LSG’s assault made it seem that way; the fact that Digvesh Rathi, the bowler they kept looking to for motivation, is an uncapped player in his first IPL season was a damning testament to their resources.
By the time of those blows, SRH was well in charge, but Rathi took the wickets of Abhishek and Kishan. LSG Vs SRH Kamindu struck Rathi for three clinical, consecutive fours in his penultimate over in the 14th over, marking the match’s symbolic finale even though it was officially over in the 19th.
The new ball is dominated by Marsh and Markram.
This seemed to be one of the flattest surfaces Ekana had yet to provide for the first half hour or so of LSG’s innings, following their introduction by Pat Cummins. In the opening over, Cummins erred on the shorter side while aiming for a strong length, allowing Marsh to slap and draw him for a four and a six. There was no grip off the pitch to threaten the step-hit over long-on when Harsh Dubey, the rookie left-arm spinner, put the ball a bit too near Marsh’s striking arc in the second over.
Both openers hit the ball with authority as LSG surged to 69 for no loss in their first six overs. Marsh had more of the strike, which is the only reason he dominated the stand. He was on 41 off 22 balls while Markram was on 26 off 14 at the six-over stage.
SRH uses the old ball to retaliate.
LSG was 108 for nil at the midpoint of their innings. However, the final ball of the tenth over provided a hint as to the outcome of the final ten overs. Harshal Patel’s full ball didn’t quite reach Marsh’s bat, and replays indicated the ball had been briefly grounded, thus a low caught-and-bowled appeal ended up falling in the batter’s favor.
The old ball was undoubtedly giving SRH more grip than the new one. In the eleventh over, Dubey got one to turn sharply, causing Marsh to slice a catch to short third, and he fell. LSG Vs SRH Eshan Malinga took a brilliant return catch diving full-length to his left, and Rishabh Pant, who had moved up to No. 3, chipped out a slower ball in the following over to fall for another low score.
Cummins, Harshal, and Malinga started using the slower ball more frequently and had encouraging results. LSG Vs SRH The greatest of them didn’t even require the surface’s assistance: in the 16th over, a diving slower yorker deceived Markram and gave Harshal his 150th IPL wicket.
The fact that Pooran started the last over without hitting a single six after facing 24 balls demonstrated how difficult the conditions were. In his first bowling innings of the season, Nitish Kumar Reddy bowled the 20th over, his second. It was an entertaining one, with Pooran and Akash Deep smashing sixes after three wickets, including two run-outs when LSG’s batters tried to sneak byes. LSG surpassed 200 after 20 came off that overall.
SRH is sent on their way by Abhishek.
With three fours in his first eight balls after joining as an Impact Sub and making his SRH debut, Atharva Taide provided his new team a head start. One was off an edged swipe that sped to the deep-third boundary, while the other two were directly out of the middle. His innings concluded with a similarly angled swipe, delivering Will O’Rourke, a rookie for LSG, his first IPL wicket.
Kishan then entered the game and hit his second ball for a brilliantly timed six over the roof. Abhishek had only faced one ball, and SRH was 23 for 1 after two overs.
But Abhishek’s assault would outshine all that initial enthusiasm. By the end of the powerplay, he had advanced to 35 off 15 after hitting sixes off Akash Deep and O’Rourke, the latter of whom had an open-faced loft over cover point. He was batting on 59 off 19 at the end of the seventh over, which was the most costly seventh over in IPL history.
In that over, Abhishek faced just four balls, but he smacked each one over the boundary. Ravi Bishnoi is an excellent bowler who hides the ball from left-handers’ striking arc with his right-hander and angle over them. He was powerless to stop Abhishek, though, as he used his eye and reach to launch him for three consecutive sixes down the ground before launching a short one on the leg-side boundary that was just out the reach of the leaping Pooran.
SRH had complete control of their chase and were 98 for 1 in seven overs.
Rathi strikes, but LSG finds it too late.
Abhishek lost his form while creating too much space against a wrong’un, which cost him his wicket when he tried to chase Rathi in the eighth over. Rathi gave Abhishek an old-fashioned send-off, pointing him to the dressing room, before launching into his notebook celebration; all this sparked a confrontation that needed the umpires to pull Abhishek and Rathi apart.
Rathi returned to the attack after three more overs, and he bowled Kishan after he missed a reverse-sweep in the 12th over. After hitting his early six, Kishan struggled for timing and fell for 35 off 28.
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Abhishek lost his form while creating too much space against a wrong’un, which cost him his wicket when he tried to chase Rathi in the eighth over. Before going into his notebook celebration, Rathi gave Abhishek a traditional farewell by directing him to the dressing room; this led to a dispute that required the umpires to separate Abhishek and Rathi.
Rathi returned to the attack after three more overs, and he bowled Kishan after he missed a reverse-sweep in the 12th over. After hitting his early six, Kishan struggled for timing and fell for 35 off 28.
Klaasen was already in the game by this time, reaching 24 off 11 balls with two fours and a six. LSG Vs SRH He was joined by Kamindu, and the two of them put on 55 runs in 36 balls to end the game for LSG.
Late in the match, there were a few nerve-racking moments, with Kamindu quitting injured after seemingly twitching his hamstring before finishing a single, and Klaasen feathering Shardul Thakur behind for 47. But since they only needed nine balls at that time, SRH just needed three of the final 13 balls to complete the task.
