Key Points

LSG's IPL 2025 journey came to an end, leaving Delhi Capitals (DC) and Mumbai Indians (MI) for the final playoff spot following SRH's six-wicket win over the hosts at Lucknow's Ekana Stadium on Monday. So far, Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings have made it to the playoffs.

Speaking about the season in the post-match, Pant said that the season could have been one of the franchise's best, but due to injuries to key players, it became difficult to fill the gaps left. He also talked about the firepower in the batting line-up, particularly in-form top-order batters Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran.

"It could have been one of our best seasons, but coming into the tournament, we had a lot of gaps, injuries and as a team, we decided not to talk about that, but it became difficult to fill those gaps for us. The way we planned the auction, if we had the same bowling...but this is cricket, sometimes things go your way and sometimes they do not, we take pride in the way we played and take the positives from the season rather than the negative side," Pant said.

"We have a strong batting lineup and have enough firepower, and that is the biggest positive for the season, even for bowlers. A lot of times, they bowled in good areas, but they were patchy. We knew we were 10 runs short because the wicket was playing well, like I said before, we are playing well in patches and unable to close the momentum whenever it turned up on our side," the LSG captain said.

"The first half of the season, we played really well, but the second half it became tougher and tougher to catch up with the teams on the brighter side," Rishabh Pant continued.

Pant also hailed Digvesh Rathi, who boosted the team's spin attack with his wicket-taking abilities, taking 14 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 28.07.

"Rathi has come up nicely for us. In his first season, the way he bowled was one of the positives, but you need to keep improving yourself and get better and better as the seasons go," he concluded.

Pant himself had a horrid season. After being roped in by LSG for Rs 27 crore in the mega auction, which made him the most expensive IPL player ever, he has scored just 135 runs in 12 innings at an average of 12.27, with just one fifty.

Coming to the match, SRH won the toss and opted to field first. Markram and Marsh scored half-centuries and put 115 runs for the first wicket. Except for Pooran later, every other batter failed to touch the double digits as LSG finished at 205/7 in their 20 overs.

Eshan Malinga (2/28) was the top bowler for SRH, with Harshal Patel, Harsh Dubey and Nitish Kumar Reddy getting one each.

During the run-chase, Abhishek Sharma (59 in 20 balls, with four boundaries and six sixes) and Ishan Kishan (35 in 28 balls, with three fours and two sixes) put up a 82-run partnership for the second wicket. Cameos from Heinrich Klaasen (47 in 28 balls, with four boundaries and a six) and Kamindu Mendis (32 in 21 balls, with three fours), who formed a half-century stand, helped SRH chase down the target with four wickets and 10 balls in hand.

With this victory, SRH are at eighth spot, with four wins, seven losses and a no result. They have a total of nine points. While they were eliminated early, they have spoiled LSG's party by eliminating them from the playoff race. LSG is in seventh spot, with five wins and seven losses, giving them 10 points.

- ANI