Lucknow Super Giants recovered from a painful loss on Monday night to secure their inaugural victory in IPL 2025 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, winning by five wickets with 3.5 overs remaining. The bowling unit, spearheaded by Shardul Thakur, limited the home team to 190 runs, with Thakur achieving impressive figures of 4 for 34. Nicholas Pooran and Mitchell Marsh then dominated the chase, leading their team to a convincing win.
SRH's powerful batting order collapses early
After scoring 286 in their previous match, SRH was anticipated to maintain their momentum. However, Thakur and Avesh Khan effectively varied their bowling lengths, limiting the score to just 15 runs after the first two overs. Thakur dismissed Abhishek for the third time in seven T20 encounters with a well-placed bouncer and then followed up by trapping the previous match’s centurion, Kishan, down the leg side. He narrowly missed out on a hat trick when Nitish Kumar Reddy managed to defend a yorker. Travis Head countered Avesh’s bowling with an aggressive 18-run over, helping SRH regain some momentum. In the sixth over, Head was fortunate to receive two reprieves after being dropped by Pooran and Ravi Bishnoi, with a six over cover interspersed between the missed catches.
Prince Yadav had a rocky start, conceding a boundary through fine-leg before claiming the wicket of the dangerous Head, which brought LSG back into contention. Yadav, who bowled four consecutive deliveries, consistently targeted the stumps and mixed in wide slower-ball yorkers. He also contributed to a run-out of Heinrich Klaasen, who was backing up too far after Reddy hit a return catch to Yadav. This occurred after Klaasen had hit Rathi for a six and executed a remarkable backfoot punch off Bishnoi to the boundary. The situation improved for the visitors when Bishnoi bowled a delivery at 105 km/h to dismiss Reddy, but just as they aimed to finish the 15th over, Aniket Verma unleashed his power. After hitting Bishnoi down the ground in the 13th over, Verma capitalized on a poorly placed delivery, hitting two more sixes in a 15-run over.
Verma’s assault continued with consecutive sixes off Rathi, but the bowler ultimately had the last word as Verma was caught at long-off after scoring 36 runs off just 13 balls. Abhinav Manohar was dismissed cheaply by Thakur. SRH captain Pat Cummins made a brief yet impactful appearance, hitting three sixes in his four-ball innings. Thakur then secured his fourth wicket of the night by dismissing Mohammed Shami, concluding with career-best figures of 4 for 34, as LSG successfully restricted Sunrisers to under 200 runs.
Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran chase it down for Lucknow Super Giants
Abhishek commenced with a modest three-run over, a rare occurrence in a challenging PowerPlay for the home team. Although Shami dismissed Aiden Markram for a single run, he subsequently delivered five wides, while Mitchell Marsh, the impact substitute, released the pressure with a flick over mid-wicket for a boundary. Pooran quickly got into his stride, hitting two sixes on the onside off Simarjeet Singh after Reddy misfielded near the boundary at the beginning of the over. He then offered a half-chance to the extra cover fielder in the following over, but the strength of his drive sent the ball past the fielder to the boundary. Marsh then capitalized on Shami’s over, scoring two sixes in an 18-run over. The decision to bring Abhishek back into the attack proved detrimental for the hosts, as Pooran, who has a strong record against left-arm spinners, struck two sixes, helping LSG reach 50 runs within five overs. Pooran concluded the PowerPlay with two boundaries off Cummins, racing to 44 runs.
The hosts introduced Adam Zampa as their impact substitute, but Pooran responded by slog-sweeping him for six, reaching his half-century in just 18 balls, marking the fastest fifty of this year’s IPL. Zampa’s over yielded 19 runs for LSG as they continued to dominate the hosts. Harshal Patel followed with a nine-ball over that cost 15 runs, pushing the partnership past the 100-run mark. The hosts finally dismissed Pooran when Cummins bowled a fuller delivery that struck his pads.
Marsh achieved his second consecutive fifty with back-to-back boundaries off Cummins before he chipped a catch to long-on. Simarjeet returned to the attack, only to be greeted by a six from Rishabh Pant, while Ayush Badoni capped the over with a four. However, Badoni was dismissed in the next over by a spectacular catch from Harshal, who sprinted in from the mid-wicket boundary as the hosts attempted to mount a comeback. The atmosphere in the ground lifted when Harshal had Pant caught at third man, but former SRH player Abdul Samad concluded the 15th over with a four and a six, leaving LSG needing just 15 runs in the final overs.
Samad continued to power the ball as he latched into the off-colour Zampa, with a six and a four before David Miller finished proceedings. The South African played a lofted drive through covers for four as LSG won with 23 balls to spare.
SCORECARD: Sunrisers Hyderabad 190/9 in 20 overs (Travis Head 47, Aniket Verma 36; Shardul Thakur 4-34, Prince Yadav 1-29) lost to Lucknow Super Giants 193/5 in 16.1 overs (Nicholas Pooran 70, Mitchell Marsh 52; Pat Cummins 2-29, Harshal Patel 1-28) by 5 wickets.
