Captain Rishabh Pant led from the front with a sensational century, but his unbeaten 118 off just 61 balls went in vain as we went down to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in our final IPL 2025 league game at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Tuesday.

Put in to bat, Pant roared back into form to slam his second IPL hundred, while Mitchell Marsh smashed a 37-ball 67 to power us to 227/3 in our 20 overs.

Later, our bowlers picked up crucial wickets to reduce RCB to 123/4, before Jitesh Sharma and Mayank Agarwal stitched a match-winning 107-run partnership to help them chase down the target in 18.4 overs.

A brilliant start

Mitchell Marsh and debutant Matthew Breetzke got us off to a good start as the duo slammed a boundary each in the opening over.

Breetzke then smashed Krunal Pandya to register his first six in the IPL. Our swashbuckling pair added 25 runs for the opening wicket before Breetzke fell in the third over.

Batting at No.3, captain Rishabh Pant clobbered Yash Dayal for a six and two fours to accumulate 18 runs in the fourth over.

At the other end, Marsh completed 5,000 runs in his T20 career. We raced to 55/1 at the end of the powerplay.

Pant, Marsh lit up Ekana

Pant and Marsh continued the onslaught with some exquisite shots to bring up a 50-run stand.

Later, in the 10th over, Pant hammered Suyash Sharma for a six and two fours to notch up his fifty off just 24 balls.

Marsh continued his magnificent form as he slammed Romario Shepherd for a four and a six in the 12th over. He soon hit Suyash for a huge maximum to register his seventh fifty of the IPL 2025 season.

Milestones galore at Ekana as Pant then completed 3,500 IPL runs.

Pant’s explosive ton powered us to 227

Pant continued his scintillating knock as he clobbered Shepherd for two maximums to amass 15 runs in the 15th over. Marsh later smashed Bhuvneshwar Kumar for back-to-back sixes before he departed for 67.

Our captain saved his best for the final game as he hit Bhuvneshwar for a boundary to register a magnificent century in the 18th over.

Pant later remained unbeaten on 118 as we posted a mammoth 227/3 in our 20 overs. Our skipper’s outstanding knock was laced with 11 fours and eight sixes.

Akash struck early

Defending 227, Akash Singh broke their 61-run opening partnership as he dismissed Phil Salt in the sixth over. Akash outfoxed the RCB opening batter with a slower-ball short ball.

Will, Avesh provided huge breakthroughs

Will O'Rourke soon joined the party as he removed Rajat Patidar and Liam Livingstone in consecutive deliveries to reduce RCB to 90/3 in the eighth over.

After losing two quick wickets, Virat Kohli and Mayank Agarwal stitched a 33-run partnership for the visitors. However, Avesh bagged the massive wicket of Kohli in the 12th over.

Not the ending we wanted

Despite valiant efforts from our bowlers, opposition captain Jitesh Sharma (85 not out) and Mayank Agarwal (41 not out) forged an unbeaten 107-run stand for the visitors to guide them to a six-wicket win.

With six victories in 14 matches, we have wrapped up our IPL 2025 campaign with 12 points. We promise we will be back next season, better and stronger. Until next time, LSG Brigade!

Brief Scores: Lucknow Super Giants 227/2 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 118 not out, Mitchell Marsh 67; Nuwan Thushara 1/26) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 230/4 in 18.4 overs (Jitesh Sharma 85 not out, Virat Kohli 54; Will O'Rourke 2/74) by 6 wickets.