SRH captain Pat Cummins won the toss and decided to bowl first. It looked like the Lucknow openers, Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram, were returning to form, as both put up a 100+ partnership for the first wicket. While the Aussie hitter scored 65 runs off just 39 balls, the former SRH captain scored a quickfire 61, hitting 4 sixes and 4 fours.
Lucknow captain Rishabh Pant continued his poor form and got out after scoring just 7 runs. Thanks to Nicholas Pooran’s innings of 45, Lucknow posted a target of 206 runs. However, what happened during last year’s finalists’ batting shocked many fans. Atharva Taide replaced Travis Head, who was recovering from COVID. Although he did hit a couple of boundaries, he got out to debutant William O’Rourke.
The match hung in the balance as Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan kept the scoreboard ticking with their strokes. However, Digvesh Rathi soon dismissed the talented left-hander and spiced things up with his infamous celebration. Both umpires had to step in to separate the two, who were throwing verbal insults at each other. Sharma scored 59 runs off just 20 balls, including 4 fours and 6 sixes.
Ultimately, everything was fine between them, as both were seen talking and joking about the incident. However, that won’t save them from a point deduction in the Fair Play award. Sensible innings from Heinrich Klaasen and Kamindu Mendis helped Hyderabad pick up their fourth win of the season. They scored 47 and 32 runs, respectively. With this loss, Pant’s LSG are knocked out of the playoff race for IPL 2025.
Fans react to heated verbal battle between Digvesh Rathi and Abhishek Sharma
Whenever Lucknow plays their matches, fans expect some shenanigans from Rathi. Despite paying a fine bigger than his IPL salary, the fiery leg-spinner once again got involved in a heated dispute with Sharma. Even after the match ended, both players were seen arguing about the incident.
One fan warned Rathi not to celebrate in any way against RCB stalwart Virat Kohli. Another fan called his attitude very annoying. Some fans agreed with that opinion, saying that showing aggression is okay, but repeating it multiple times was not in the spirit of the game. Here are some of the top reactions from fans:
One user said the Lucknow spinner’s anger was unjustified and felt he should have controlled himself. Another user showed full support for him and said these were the things that made the game more thrilling. Many users agreed and stated that it was all normal in modern-day cricket. One fan recalled the ugly verbal spat between Kohli and Gautam Gambhir a few years ago.