IPL 2026: Rishabh Pant battles nerves, guides Lucknow Super Giants to win by 5 wickets

Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant played an ice-cool knock to power LSG to a stunning win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday, April 5. Chasing 157 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, Pant played a masterful 68 off 50 balls to help his team open its account in the Indian Premier League 2026.

With wickets falling around him, Pant held his cool to show nerves of steel in the win. LSG did not let the required rate creep up and stayed with it throughout their chase. They were mostly in control of the chase before a stumble in the middle overs, which saw SRH mount a comeback. They were at 105/3 after 13 overs and needed 52 runs from the final seven overs with a well-set Pant and Nicholas Pooran in the middle. While Pooran departed in the next over, Abdul Samad had a mini-partnership of 34 runs that saw them stabilise things yet again. 

However, Harsh Dubey removed Samad in the 18th over, while Harshal Patel bowled a four-run 19th over to pile the pressure on the visitors. With nine



needed off the final over, Pant hit a couple of fours but then missed the next two balls before hitting the winning four on the fifth ball to take his team home by five wickets. 

It was Mohammed Shami, the 35-year-old master, who set the tone early by striking in LSG’s bowling Powerplay. He removed the dangerous opening duo of Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head off successive deliveries across two overs, using clever variations of slower balls. Shami found strong support in youngster Prince Yadav (2/34), whose brilliant outswinger — which jagged in to dismiss Ishan Kishan — stood out as the delivery of the match.

After reducing SRH to 26/4, skipper Rishabh Pant would have hoped to bowl them out cheaply, but Heinrich Klaasen (62 off 41) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (56 off 33) launched a counterattack, stitching together a 116-run stand for the fifth wicket. However, the innings saw yet another twist as SRH suffered a dramatic collapse, losing five wickets for just 14 runs in the final two overs as they ended on 156.