IPL 2025 playoffs eventualities: Do Lucknow Super Giants have a chance after loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad? | Cricket News

NEW DELHI: Opener Abhishek Sharma lit up the night with a breathtaking 59 off simply 20 balls to energy Sunrisers Hyderabad to a convincing six-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants on Monday. Chasing 206 for victory, Abhishek’s fireworks – studded with 4 boundaries and 6 towering sixes – laid the muse for the chase, which Hyderabad accomplished with 10 balls to spare in Lucknow.The left-hander fell within the eighth over, however not earlier than establishing the momentum. Heinrich Klaasen (47) and Kamindu Mendis (32* retired harm) stitched a essential 55-run stand for the fourth wicket to take Hyderabad to the brink of victory. Nitish Reddy and Aniket Verma then wrapped issues up with ease.With this loss, Lucknow Super Giants had been formally knocked out of the playoff race, changing into the fifth group to be eradicated from rivalry. The closing playoff spot is now a direct battle between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals.

“Definitely, it could have been one of our best seasons,” a upset LSG skipper Rishabh Pant mentioned after the match. “But coming into the tournament, we had a lot of gaps and injuries. As a team, we decided not to talk about that, but it became difficult to fill those gaps.”Gujarat Titans, Punjab Kings, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru have already sealed their spots within the playoffs, which start on May 29.

For Sunrisers Hyderabad, already out of playoff rivalry, the victory got here as a morale booster. “It gives us a lot of confidence for next year,” mentioned skipper Pat Cummins.

Abhishek went on the assault early, even after dropping opening associate Atharva Taide, who turned debutant Will O’Rourke’s maiden IPL scalp. The 23-year-old introduced up his fifty in simply 18 balls and smashed three consecutive sixes off Ravi Bishnoi, asserting his dominance.Leg-spinner Digvesh Rathi ultimately ended Abhishek’s blistering knock, and Ishan Kishan added 35 earlier than falling. Klaasen and Mendis then steadied the ship. Though Klaasen missed out on a half-century and Mendis needed to limp off as a result of a foot damage, Hyderabad had achieved sufficient.The closing flourish got here from Reddy and Verma, sealing a confidence-boosting win for the Sunrisers as they look forward to IPL 2026.