Captain Jitesh Sharma’s unbeaten 85 (33b, 8×4, 6×6) hit Lucknow Super Giants like a big yellow school bus as it succumbed to a six-wicket loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the last league fixture of IPL 2025 at the Ekana Stadium here on Tuesday.
His knock was like a tent collapsing on unsuspecting campers. It was untamable carnage; interminable chaos; a cyclone made of laughter. If LSG thought they could get away with 227, the joke was on them.
His unbroken 107-run fifth-wicket stand with Mayank Agarwal (41, 23b, 5×4) scuffed RCB and hurled it to the second spot in the points table. It also helped RCB become the first team in IPL history to win all its seven away games.
Notably, Jitesh deposited a slower ball from Will O’Rourke over long off for a six before he lumbered down the track and flat-batted a length ball off left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed for an extra cover six. He brought up his fifty with a midwicket six off leg-spinner Digvesh Rathi. He also brought up his team’s victory with a sweep for a six over square leg off Ayush Badoni’s off-spin.
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Earlier, Virat Kohli, with an 87 per cent control over his strokes, set up the chase with a 30-ball 54 while Phil Salt made 30 off 19 deliveries.
For LSG, captain Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten 118 (61b, 11×4, 8×6) was the highlight.
He added 152 runs off 77 balls for the second wicket stand with opener Mitchell Marsh (67, 37b, 4×4, 5×6). The absolute, unhesitant, lucid cold fury of their partnership dispirited RCB as they raged through their batting night out.
Pant, who walked in at No. 3 (a surprise), had spoken about playing “fearless cricket” at the toss. He may have felt claustrophobic and boxed in, with runs hard to come by. True to his words, he spared no effort for his turnaround.
His innings was PowerPlay, box office. It had everything Pant. There was the reaching-out-a-little, leaning-over-a-touch, flipping-the-wrists, diving-at-a-wide, a one-handed six, and a no-look scoop. The somersault after reaching his ton was the cherry on the top. He was liberated from his lean patch.With Marsh for company, it was attack-or-be-damned. They hit it hard, hit it often, and it was must-watch cricket.
But the night belonged to Jitesh and RCB.
