🏏IPL 2025 - Match 61: LSG vs SRH on 19th May 2025 at Lucknow

🏏IPL 2025 - Match 61: LSG vs SRH on 19th May 2025 at Lucknow🏏

LSG teetering on the brink; Head a doubt for SRH after testing positive for Covid. A defeat against SRH on Monday will knock LSG out of playoffs contention

With three games remaining, LSG are in a must-win situation as they hold the seventh position on the points table with 10 points from 11 games. Their playoff hopes are tough, and another loss would officially knock them out of contention. The Rishabh Pant-led side lost four of their last five matches and are lacking momentum and confidence. However, a repose can just work wonders for the side, as they have gotten time to re-think their strategies.

Furthermore, star pacer Mayank Yadav has been ruled out due to injury and replaced by New Zealand’s Will O’Rourke. LSG’s best-case scenario is winning all three remaining fixtures, against SRH, GT, and RCB, to reach 16 points. However, their poor net run-rate (NRR) of -0.469 means they’ll need favourable results from other teams as well.

For SRH, already eliminated with just three wins in 11 games, are playing for their pride and can play to spoil the party of other teams. The Orange Army would hope to dent LSG’s playoff chances, especially after losing to them earlier this season. Notably, all overseas players are available for selection.

Preview

Lucknow Super Giants' qualification hopes hang by a thread. If they lose to Sunrisers Hyderabad, they're out of contention. If they win, they're still nowhere close - such has been the story of their season. Even if LSG manage to win all three of their remaining matches, they'll only get to 16 points. And with a net run rate of -0.469, there's still too much left to chance.

To make matters worse, two of their retained players haven't had the best of seasons. Ravi Bishnoi was left out of LSG's last match after underwhelming returns (nine wickets across 10 games at an average of 41.67 and an economy of 10.42) whereas Mayank Yadav has been ruled out of the season with a back injury, looking a shadow of his fiery self since returning to the side midway into the tournament.

That said, LSG will take heart from having beaten SRH earlier this season. That win came without Mayank in the side and Bishnoi at his best. Many expected the inexperienced bowling attack to be steamrolled in Hyderabad but instead, they showed the world how to counter SRH's batting firepower and intent, particularly on a surface that played to the home team's strengths.

As for SRH, their season is done and dusted. It was somewhat ironic that they bowed out of contention in a rained-off match, just after producing their best bowling performance of the season but as Pat Cummins has maintained throughout, not all is lost; this is, after all, only the first year of a three-year auction cycle. The return of their fast-bowling captain after the IPL's temporary suspension, should lift the spirits of the franchise. Especially with Cummins set to lead Australia in a World Test Championship final barely two weeks after LSG's final league fixture.

Even though qualification is off the table, there's still plenty to play for SRH, a team that hasn't quite lived up to the promise of their season opener. There have been lessons along the way, and it'll be interesting to see how they put those into practice in the games that remain, starting with Lucknow.

When: Match 61, IPL 2025, on May 19, at 07:30 PM LOCAL

Where: Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow

What to expect: This will be the first game at the Ekana in IPL 2025 in almost a month. It's sweltering hot in Lucknow, with afternoon and evening temperatures hovering around 40 degrees Celsius. Conditions will test the players physically, especially at a venue where sixes haven't come easy. It's one of the biggest grounds in India, and the pitches have generally produced middling totals, with just one 200-plus score in 10 innings this season. It could be more of the same this time around.

Head to head: LSG 4-1 SRH. Lucknow won the reverse fixture in Hyderabad on the back of a four-fer from their replacement player, Shardul Thakur.

Team News

Lucknow Super Giants

Injuries/Availability issues: As mentioned before, William O'Rourke has replaced Mayank Yadav in the squad, but with Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, and David Miller locked in as overseas picks, it remains to be seen if he gets a look-in at all. Shamar Joseph also isn't available for the rest of the season.

Tactics & matchups: In what's been a largely unremarkable season, LSG have unearthed a key bowler in Digvesh Rathi, who has been used across the three phases of the game and gives his captain crucial tactical flexibility.

Probable XII: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Akash Singh/Ravi Bishnoi, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Avesh Khan, Akash Deep/Shardul Thakur, Prince Yadav

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Injuries/Availability issues: Daniel Vettori confirmed that Travis Head had Covid and will return to India only on the morning of the match. A decision on his participation will be taken closer to the game. Wiaan Mulder too isn't available.

Tactics & matchups: In SRH's last fixture before the break, Cummins took the new ball after Shami was dropped and picked up 3/19 in four overs, all three in the Powerplay. He bowled Test match lengths largely and dismissed Karun Nair off the first ball of the innings. It's a ploy SRH will have to consider going forward.

Probable XII: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Travis Head/Kamindu Mendis, Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Sachin Baby, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins(c), Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Zeeshan Ansari, Eshan Malinga

Did you know?

- Rishabh Pant has the lowest strike-rate (99.22) for anyone who has batted at least 100 balls in this IPL

- LSG and SRH are the two most expensive bowling units in the PowerPlay this season, conceding at 10.5 and 10.1 respectively.

- The 10 wickets taken by SRH's spinners are the least by any team's spinners in this season.

In the spotlight: Pant, Kishan and Shami

The ten-day break couldn't have come at a better time for Rishabh Pant. He averages just 12.8 across ten innings this season, with six single-digit scores. Against Delhi Capitals last month, he batted at No. 7, lower than both Samad and impact-player Badoni, with just two balls left in the innings. Among batters who've faced at least 100 balls this season, Pant has both the lowest average and strike rate.

SRH's marquee auction picks Ishan Kishan and Mohammed Shami have had poor seasons. Kishan has tailed off rapidly after starting the season with a century. Since then, he averages just 11.3, having crossed 30 just once in his last nine innings. Meanwhile, Shami, who claimed 48 wickets across 2022 and 2023 for Gujarat Titans, has just six this season at an economy of 11.2. He hasn't completed his quota in six of the nine matches. His powerplay impact has also dipped significantly. Can the pair help SRH finish the season well?

Much of LSG's slide stems from a faltering middle order. Rishabh Pant's form has been poor, while David Miller, once a match-winner for GT, has also struggled as a finisher. This has left them heavily reliant on Abdul Samad and Ayush Badoni to finish the innings. But LSG's troubles don't end there.

Their bowling hasn't offered much respite either. LSG have the worst economy rate in the powerplay this season. Shardul Thakur has faded away, Akash Deep has struggled since his return from injury, and Mayank Yadav, once billed as their X-factor, lasted only two games before breaking down. Uncapped legspinner Digvesh Rathi has been the lone bright spot.

As for SRH, last season's runners-up, they have endured a steep decline. The once-feared opening duo of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, whose blitz set the tone in 2024, has struggled to deliver similar impact, with their average partnerships and strike rates dipping.

Nitish Kumar Reddy, a key retention, has hit the second-season slump. Heinrich Klaasen and Pat Cummins, so central to their 2024 run, have also been far less influential. Compounding their woes is a spin department that has offered little control or threat. Rookie Zeeshan Ansari, with six wickets, is their top wicket-taker among spinners and as a unit, their spin economy rate of 9.9 is the worst in the league. These are way too many problems for a team that was billed as title-contenders.

So, while the stakes may differ, both sides share the desperation of having to win.

Pitch and conditions

Uttar Pradesh is in the grip of a heatwave, with temperatures sometimes soaring past 40 degrees Celsius. Spinners have played a key role in the last two matches at this venue. The previous game here was on April 22, giving the curator ample time to prepare the surface.

Stats and trivia

Since IPL 2024, no one has hit more sixes than Nicholas Pooran (70) and Abhishek Sharma (59). Abhishek (194) and Pooran (188) have the highest strike rates among those who have scored over 500 runs in this period.

LSG have been the most expensive bowling unit in the powerplay this season, conceding at 10.5 an over. SRH are the second worst at 10.1.

With Pant out of form, LSG's reliance on Miller the finisher has been even higher. But he hasn't been at his best, as his strike rate of 135 in the death overs suggests. It's the lowest among batters who've faced 50 or more deliveries.

The ten wickets taken by SRH are the least by a spin attack this season.

Thanks for the tag Soni.

May the best team win.

Cheers..