New Delhi, May 28 (IANS) Former Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Tom Moody has declared Jitesh Sharma’s unbeaten 85, giving Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) a top-two finish with a six-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), as the best innings of the ongoing IPL 2025 season.

At the BRSABV Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, Jitesh’s breathtaking knock, laced with six sixes and eight fours, ensured RCB chased down 228, the third-highest successful run chase in their IPL history. The win helped RCB set up a date with Punjab Kings in Qualifier 1 on Thursday, it also made them the first-ever IPL team to win all seven away matches in an IPL season.

“The innings is, for me, the innings of the IPL this season by a stretch. We’ve seen some great knocks from young and old, but this one, wow, quite remarkable! “The team was totally against it – backs against the wall, Kohli in the sheds, (Phil) Salt in the sheds.

“There was significant headwind, but he just ignored it all and just took the game apart. He not only took the game apart, he played smartly, just the way he went about it was like he’d been there and done it before many, many times,” said Moody on ESPNCricinfo.

Former India batter Abhinav Mukund lauded Jitesh for learning from mistakes committed in RCB’s defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad, while pointing out the slices of luck he enjoyed during his knock – surviving a run-out, being reprieved off a no-ball, and escaping a run-out attempt at the non-strikers’ end off Digvesh Rathi.

“And that’s a great sign of any IPL cricketer, right? They were 172 for 3 in the last game, chasing 232, they got 189 all out. I know the wickets fell before him, but the pressure increased in the last game right after the timeout.

“I feared the same when he got out of that no-ball, but luck is a beautiful thing there. You get a reprieve and then you say, ‘okay, this time I’m not making a mistake again.’ That’s exactly what happened. I’m very, very happy for Jitesh, but this is exactly what you’re paying the big bucks for as a mid-order batter.

“And he’s proven that a plenty. On a night when your top wicketkeeper or your World Cup wicketkeeper (LSG skipper Rishabh Pant) gets a hundred and everyone’s happy, this guy’s got one better, I would think, with 85 off 33,” he concluded.

–IANS

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