LSG vs RCB | Jitesh Sharma trumps Rishabh Pant as Royal Challengers Bengaluru seal top two spot with thrilling win

‌Brief score: LSG 227/3 (20) [Rishabh Pant 118*(61), Mitchell Marsh 67(37); Nuwan Thushara 1/26(4)] lost to RCB 230/4 (18.4) [Jitesh Sharma 85*(33), Virat Kohli 54(30); Will O’Rourke 2/74(4)] by six wickets.

After being put into bat at the Ekana Stadium, Lucknow Super Giants got off to a good start with openers Mitchell Marsh and Matthew Breetzke hitting a boundary each in the first over from Sri Lankan pacer Nuwan Thushara. LSG skipper Rishabh Pant walked in at number three, ahead of Nicholas Pooran, after Thushara castled Breetzke with a beautiful yorker. The southpaw started aggressively hitting a six and two boundaries off Yash Dayal to notch up 18 runs in his first over as LSG reached 55/1 at the end of the powerplay. Along with Mitchell Marsh, Pant kept finding boundaries as he reached his second fifty of the season with a six and two fours in the 10th over as the team also coasted to 100. With Marsh also bringing up his fifty in 31 balls in the 14th over, LSG were looking set for a tall total. The duo added 152 runs in 78 balls before Marsh was dismissed in the 16th over. However, the LSG skipper continued in the same vein to bring up his century in 54 balls as LSG powered to 227/3 in their 20 overs. The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 118 while Nuwan Thushara was RCB’s best bowler on display finishing with 1/26 in four overs.

In reply, RCB started off aggressively with Phil Salt smashing the first ball of the innings down the ground. Virat Kohli followed suit with four consecutive boundaries in the next over bowled by pacer Will O’Rourke as the pair added 61 runs in just 34 balls to lay the foundation for the chase. But LSG clawed their way back into the game with the New Zealand pacer’s double strike to dismiss Rajat Patidar and Liam Livingstone in the eighth over. However, Kohli looked solid and completed his eighth fifty of IPL 2025 and new batter Mayank Agarwal hit three boundaries in his first four balls as RCB needed 113 runs in the last 10 overs. With Kohli’s dismissal in the 12th over, the match slightly tilted in LSG’s favour but stand-in skipper Jitesh Sharma had other plans. He first smashed a six and four off O’Rourke before plundering 17 runs off left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed to reduce the equation to 51 off the last five runs. The wicketkeeper-batter brought up his fifty in just 22 balls before targeting the Kiwi pacer again with 20 runs from his last over. Jitesh and Mayank were involved in an unbeaten 107-run partnership for the fifth wicket off only 45 balls to take the side home with eight balls to spare. Jitesh top-scored for RCB with 85 off 33, including eight fours and six sixes while Mayank supported him with an unbeaten 41 off 23 balls.