Lucknow, May 20 (IANS) A blistering half-century by Abhishek Sharma, followed by a composed knock by Heinrich Klaasen (47), helped Sunrisers Hyderabad defeat Lucknow Super Giants by six wickets and knocked them out of the playoffs race in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 on Monday.

Needing to win the match to remain in contention, Lucknow Super Giants posted a challenging 205/7 riding on brilliant half-centuries by Mitchell Marsh (65) and Aiden Markram (61). But they lost the momentum in the middle-overs and lost three wickets in the final over, failing to reach a score of 220-plus, which they could have reached.

However, things continued to go against them as Abhishek Sharma struck a sensational 59 off 20 balls, racing to his fifty off 18 balls as Sunrisers reached 206/4 in 18.2 overs, chasing the 200-plus score at the Ekana for the first time in IPL.

The defeat dropped LSG to seventh position with 10 points from 12 matches, while Sunrisers scored their fourth win of the season (9 points).

Sunrisers Hyderabad got off to a whirlwind start in their chase of 206 with Abhishek Sharma blazing to another half-century. Opening the innings with Impact substitute Atharva Tide in the absence of his regular partner Travis Head, Sharma was at his usual destructive best despite SRH losing an early wicket.

Taide, who tucked Akash Deep past square leg for his first four in the first over, struck debutant Will O’Rourke for back-to-back boundaries before the left-arm pacer from New Zealand had the last laugh, as a thick edge off Taide’s bat from a hoick is caught by Digvesh Rathi at deep third. Taide, the 25-year-old from Akola in Maharashtra, was out for 13 to become O’Rourke’s first wicket in the IPL.

Sharma was in his element at the other end, coming up with another destructive innings that set SRH on course for victory.

He punched Akash Deep for a four followed by a lofted six in the third over; repeated the four-followed-by-six act against O’Rourke in the next over, pulled Avesh Khan for back-to-back fours in the sixth over before destroying Ravi Bishnoi with four successive sixes in the seventh over to blaze to his half-century in just 18 balls.

But just when it looked like he will go on to further entertain the fans, Digvesh Rathi got him with a googly bowled outside off as Abhishek went for another big one but does not get enough bat and Shardul Thakur takes an easy catch to end his innings for 59 off 20 balls, laced with four boundaries and six maximums.

Ishan Kishan continued to torment the LSG bowlers, hitting some superb shots. He lapped Rathi fine for four and slog-swept Markram for a six before getting out, attempting an unnecessary reverse sweep off Rathi. Kishan scored 35 off 28 balls, and SRH fell to 140/3.

He and Abhishek Sharma added 82 runs for the second wicket in quick time, and Kishan raised 41 runs with Heinrich Klaasen.

Klaasen played a well-controlled innings, scoring 47 runs off 28 balls while Kamindu Mendis went for his shots at the other end. But with 19 needed from the last three overs, Klassen struck Shardul Thakur for consecutive boundaries before he was ruled to have edged one behind by DRS off the third ball. With Kamindu Mendis getting retired hurt a ball later, it looked like SRH had landed in a bind. But Aniket Verma struck a four and Nitish Reddy hit a four and scampered a single on the first two balls of the 19th over as SRH aced the chase again, completing the first successful 200-plus chase at the Ekana.

Digvesh Rathi (2-37) was the best LSG bowler on the night, but his effort went in vain.

Brief scores:

Lucknow Super Giants 205/7 in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 65, Aiden Markram 61, Nicholas Pooran 45; Eshan Malinga 2-28, Harsh Dubey 1-44) lost to Sunriser Hyderabad 206/4 in 18.2 overs (Abhishek Sharma 59, Ishan Kishan 35, Heinrich Klaasen 47, Kamindu Mendis 32; Digvesh Rathi 2-37) by six wickets

–IANS

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