Credit: X
In the 16th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, the former’s captain Rishabh Pant was expected to display courage and produce an impactful knock for his team. However, Rishabh's terrible run in the tournament continued as he couldn't do much with his bat in this ongoing game. Batting first after losing the toss, the hosts got a brilliant start from their openers Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram. Both stitched a 76-run partnership in just seven overs before Marsh’s departure after scoring 60 off just 31. Nicholas Pooran looked in fine touch with his bat but couldn’t score more than 12 runs. After the dismissals of Marsh and Pooran, skipper Pant walked into the middle and expectations were high from him for this game.
Confronting his counterpart Hardik Pandya in the 11th over of the match, Pant couldn’t time the delivery and got a leading edge that went towards Corbin Bosch, who was stationed at the mid-off. Bosch grabbed the opportunity and assisted his captain in sending the 27-year-old back to the pavilion. Pant’s two-run innings has enraged fans and they aren’t shying away from trolling him on social media sites. On X, a username Asif wrote, “If we're being honest 27 cr for Rishabh Pant was just too much and also he hasn't been able to justify his price tag till now, the owner didn't paid 27 cr for the team's captain to score massive 19 runs in 4 innings. #RishabhPant #LSGvsMI #MIvLSG.”
LSG deliver a target of 204 runs to Hardik and Co.
Lucknow have racked up 203/8 on the board after completing their 20-over quota. After Pant’s departure, youngster Ayush Badoni and veteran David Miller did a magnificent job with their bats. Badoni scored 30 off 19 while the Protean chipped in with his 27 which came in just 14 balls.
Hardik Pandya bagged 5/36 figures for MI in his four-over spell. His hunts were the crucial scalps of Pooran, Pant, Markram, Miller and Akash Deep. This is Hardik's maiden IPL fifer. The MI skipper got assistance from Trent Boult, Vignesh Puthur, and Ashwani Kumar, who took one wicket respectively.
