Rishabh Pant's selfless call pays off as Lucknow spoil Hyderabad's homecoming

IPL 2026, SRH vs LSG: Rishabh Pant played a captain's knock, scoring an unbeaten 68 as Lucknow Super Giants opened their account in the tournament after beating Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets on Sunday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

In Short

• Lucknow beat Hyderabad by 5 wickets on Sunday
• Lucknow chased down 157 with 1 ball to spare
• Klaasen scored 62 off 41 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes

Brief Score: LSG (160 for 5 in 19.5 overs) beat SRH (156/9 in 20 overs) by 5 wickets in Match No.10 of IPL 2026 in Hyderabad on Sunday. SRH vs LSG, IPL 2026: HIGHLIGHTS | SCORECARD

Rishabh Pant made a selfless call on Sunday, and it paid rich dividends as Lucknow Super Giants opened their account in IPL 2026 with a five-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Pant gave up his opening slot, and the move worked perfectly for LSG.

After a single-digit score against Delhi Capitals, Pant returned against SRH with a far calmer and more composed approach. He wasn’t at his swashbuckling best, but paced the chase expertly, finishing unbeaten on 68 off 50 balls as LSG chased down 157 with one ball to spare.

With nine needed off the final over, Pant held his nerve superbly. He struck Jaydev Unadkat for back-to-back fours and, despite two dot balls in between, never looked flustered. Instead, he stayed relaxed and sealed the chase with a commanding lofted drive over mid-off, after which he was almost reduced to tears.

SRH, meanwhile, came into the contest on the back of a thumping win over Kolkata Knight Riders, but failed to make it a happy homecoming in Hyderabad.

SHAMI TEARS THROUGH SRH

Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s innings unfolded in three distinct phases. First came a disastrous start they would rather forget, with Mohammed Shami tearing through the top order. Then followed a fierce counterattack from Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy, before Lucknow Super Giants regained control in the final phase.

Asked to bat first, SRH were in deep trouble at 35 for 4 at the halfway mark. Shami struck first by dismissing Abhishek Sharma for a duck, though much of the credit belonged to Manimaran Siddharth for a stunning diving catch at short third man.

Shami then removed Travis Head soon after, while Prince Yadav castled Ishan Kishan to leave SRH reeling. Liam Livingstone, playing his first IPL game of the season, also failed to make an impact as Digvesh Rathi accounted for him. Shami was so dominant that he completed his spell in the ninth over, returning sensational figures of 4-0-9-2.

KLAASEN, NITISH HELP SRH RECOVER

At 26 for 4 in 7.1 overs, SRH looked in danger of not even reaching 100. But Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen then produced a remarkable recovery, starting cautiously before shifting gears from the 11th over. That over proved crucial as they took 16 runs off Prince Yadav, sparking the fightback SRH desperately needed.

From there, Sunrisers launched a stunning assault, smashing 108 runs in just seven overs. Klaasen brought up his fifty off 33 balls, while Reddy reached his half-century off 30, as LSG suddenly came under pressure. The pair added a magnificent 116-run stand, the highest-ever fifth-wicket partnership for SRH.

Klaasen, dropped on 19 by Mukesh Choudhary, made LSG pay with 62 off 41 balls. However, once Manimaran Siddharth dismissed Reddy for a brilliant 56 off 33, SRH lost momentum again and slipped from a position of 190 potential to 156 for 9.

PANT TAKES LSG HOME

Lucknow Super Giants began the chase with their regular opening pair of Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh. With Markram back at the top, Rishabh Pant dropped down the order instead of opening, and the move worked well for LSG. Markram and Marsh laid a solid platform with a 37-run stand for the first wicket.

Although Marsh fell for 14, Markram carried on to make 45 off 27 balls, striking six fours and two sixes. Pant came in at No. 3, and that proved to be the perfect call in the chase. Once LSG scored 53 in the powerplay, they never really looked back.

Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran fell cheaply, but the required rate never climbed beyond LSG’s control. Pant led from the front as the Super Giants closed out the chase in the last over. He did not go hammer and tongs from the outset; instead, he played calculated strokes and made sure he batted through till the end.

Pant found solid support in Abdul Samad, who made 16 off 12 and eased the pressure. After Pooran’s dismissal, SRH may have sensed an opening, but Pant and Samad added 34 for the fifth wicket to put LSG firmly on course.

After Samad departed, Pant took it upon himself to finish the job, showing that he can be composed and mature as well, not just the swashbuckling batter who likes to take the aggressive route.

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