Rishabh Pant's 68* Steers LSG to First IPL 2026 Win Over SRH

Pant scored an unbeaten 68-run knock off 50 balls to guide his team over the line, chasing a 157-run target.

Chasing 157, LSG faced an early setback when Eshan Malinga (1/30 in 4 overs) dismissed Mitchell Marsh (14). However, Aiden Markram took control of the Powerplay, smashing 45 off 27 balls to keep the required rate under control.

Despite Markram falling to Shivang Kumar (1/30 in 4 overs) and a middle-order wobble that saw Ayush Badoni (12) stumped and Nicholas Pooran (1) run out, Rishabh Pant remained the steady hand. The LSG skipper played a captain's knock, scoring an unbeaten 68* off 50 balls.

The match headed for a tense conclusion as SRH's Harsh Dubey (2/18 in 4 overs) struck late to remove Abdul Samad (16), leaving LSG needing 13 runs from the final two overs. Pant's composure proved decisive as he guided his team across the line on the fifth ball of the 19th over.

With a win, LSG now sit at seventh in the IPL 2026 points table with two points in three matches. SRH, on the other hand, sit fifth, also with two points in three matches.

Earlier in the match, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen carried out a rescue act for Sunrisers Hyderabad after LSG bowlers, led by Mohammed Shami, reduced the home team to 29/4 in 8 overs.

Reddy (56 off 33 balls) and Klaasen (62 off 41) helped SRH to 156/9 in 20 overs.

After winning the toss and opting to bowl first, LSG bowlers, led by a clinical Shami (2/9 in 4 overs), dismantled the SRH top order in a frantic opening spell. LSG captain Rishabh Pant's decision to bowl first paid immediate dividends as Shami struck in the very first over, dismissing the dangerous Abhishek Sharma for a two-ball duck.

The misery continued for the home side as Travis Head (7) fell shortly after, followed by stand-in captain Ishan Kishan (1), who was cleaned up by a beauty from Prince Yadav (2/34 in 4 overs). By the end of the Powerplay, SRH were reeling at 22/3, which soon became 26/4 when Liam Livingstone (14) was brilliantly caught by a diving Rishabh Pant off the bowling of Digvesh Rathi (1/46 in 4 overs).

With the all-out attack philosophy of SRH backfiring, it was left to local boy Nitish Kumar Reddy and the South African hard-hitter Heinrich Klaasen to rebuild the innings. The duo shared a vital 116-run partnership that dragged SRH from the brink of a double-digit total to a competitive score.

Nitish Reddy was the aggressor, smashing 56 runs off 33 balls, including five sixes. At the other end, Klaasen played a calculated yet powerful knock of 62 from 41 balls, finding the boundary five times and hitting two sixes.

Just as SRH looked set for a late-overs flourish, LSG's bowling unit struck back. Manimaran Siddharth (1/29 in 4 overs) broke the match-defining stand by dismissing Reddy, and the momentum shifted once again. Heinrich Klaasen fell shortly after, and the SRH lower order struggled to find the boundary against the disciplined death bowling of Avesh Khan (2/36 in 4 overs) and Prince Yadav as the Hyderabad-based franchise ultimately finished on 156/9.

- ANI