Lucknow: Rishabh Pant produced his best batting of the season in the last league match, scoring a scintillating unbeaten century to propel Lucknow Super Giants to 227/3 in 20 overs in Match 70 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Ekana Stadium here on Tuesday.
Pant, who has struggled throughout the season, moving up and down the order but managing only one half-century, found his mojo in the last match and put up a brilliant display of power-hitting as he hammered his second century in IPL history to help LSG set the biggest chase ever at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. The previous highest chase here is 206 and RCB will not have to set a new record for the venue if they have to win this match.
Pant remained unbeaten on 118 off 61 balls while Mitchell Marsh continued with his superb form for the season with 67 off 37 balls as LSG reached a massive total.
RCB, who need to win this match to finish among the top two and secure a place in Qualifier 1, faltered with their team selection, leaving out skipper Rajat Patidar on the bench.
Asked to bat first, Lucknow Super Giants were off to a poor start as debutant Matthew Breetzke (14 off 12, 1×4, 1×6), who was struck on his head by Nuwan Thushara, departed with 25 runs on the board, Thushara castling him with a beauty. However, skipper Rishabh Pant showed a welcome return to form in their last match of the season as he joined Mitchell Marsh in raising 142 runs for the second wicket, propelling the side towards a huge total.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), needing to win the match to finish among the top two, looked a bit off-colour on the field as their bowlers proved a bit ineffective against Pant and Marsh.
Pant looked in his element as he started with a 2,6,2,4,0,4 blitz against Yash Dayal in the fourth over and went from strength to strength from there as LSG reached 55/1 in the power-play.
Pant continued to flourish with a six and four off successive balls against Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the fifth over, a six followed by two fours in the 10th off Suyash Sharma, and a four and six off successive balls against the same bowler in the 10th as he raced to his half-century in 29 balls.
Marsh, who has been the top scorer for LSG this season, was equally good at the other end as he raced past the 600-run mark for the season, scoring his half-century in 31 balls as they reached the 150-run mark in their partnership in 85 balls.
Desperate to stem the run flow, RCB skipper Jitesh Sharma brought Bhuvneshwar Kumar into the attack but Marsh treated his return with sixes off successive balls — the first over the bowler’s head, while the second was a loft off a fullish delivery bowled wide, went high into the sky but landed way beyond the long-off boundary. However, the bowler had the last laugh as he induced an outside edge on a scrambled seam delivery that landed full on sixth stump. Marsh attempted a loft again but edged it behind. He was out for 67 off 37 balls studded with four fours and five sixes.
Pant continued to thrive and reached his second century in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in seven years as he blasted boundaries at will, reaching the three-figure mark off 54 balls.
Pant showcased his best in the final match of the season, He didn’t have any pressure as his team was out of the race and was playing for pride. Pant batted freely and was also helped by some innocuous bowling by the RCB bowling unit.
Pant hammered 11 boundaries and eight maximums for an unbeaten 118 off 61 balls, batting in the third and fourth gear throughout the match. Nicholas Pooran scored 13 off 10 balls and was out in the final over as LSG set up the biggest chase for RCB.
Brief scores:
Lucknow Super Giants 226/3 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 118 not out, Mitchell Marsh 67; Nuwan Thushara 1-26, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-44) against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
(IANS)
