After scoring a hundred in the first match, Ishan Kishan’s performance had been lacking with only 125 runs scored at a strike-rate of 106.83 in the 10 innings leading up to the match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). However, in Lucknow, he played a vital role as an anchor for the high-intent Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) team, managing to score 94 off 48 balls. This ensured that SRH had enough batters to secure a total of 231 runs, which was the 42nd time a score of 200 or more has been achieved in IPL 2025 – the most for any season. Consequently, SRH’s target of 232 was also their highest successful chase thus far.
Apart from Kishan, the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen and Aniket Verma posed a constant threat to the RCB bowlers. Despite anticipating a challenging pitch, they quickly adjusted their strategy and aimed for a score of 230 to 240. Abhishek led the attack with 34 runs off 17 balls, while Head maintained a calmer pace with 17 runs off 10 balls. Klaasen’s effortless performance earned him 24 runs off just 13 balls, while Aniket impressively sent even good deliveries for sixes as he scored 26 runs off only nine balls.
After successfully eliminating the quartet, RCB managed to secure four peaceful overs. The team only scored 30 runs from overs 13 to 16. Romario Shepherd, who previously helped RCB turn their last match around with his batting skills, posed a similar threat with his bowling in this game. He joined in during the 15th over and quickly claimed two wickets, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Abhinav Manohar, while giving away only 14 runs in two overs.
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Kishan’s performance was crucial in the game, as he contributed 54 runs out of the total 86 scored since Aniket’s dismissal at 145 for 4 in the 12th over. Unlike his teammates, he managed to score without taking any high risks. Kishan and Pat Cummins teamed up for an unbeaten 43 runs in the final three overs.
