Lucknow Super Giants registered their first win in the IPL 2026 after defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by 5 wickets away from home. The win that came on the penultimate delivery of the match left LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka very emotional. He was later spotted hugging the captain Rishabh Pant who notched up a brilliant half-century and remained unbeaten.
Following this win, skipper Rishabh Pant spoke on his unbeaten half-century, saying that “all that ends well is all well” and the team management and teammates are well-aware of the hard work he puts into his game.
After an unfortunate run out in the campaign opener, Rishabh showed some signs of form during a 50-ball 68* during a chase of 157 runs against SRH at Hyderabad on Sunday. While Pant did not look at his swashbuckling best during the innings, barely scoring at a run-a-ball at one point, his finishing in the final over with nine needed showed why the left-hander cannot be counted out in white-ball cricket.
Sanjiv Goenka and Rishabh Pant on the ground after LSG’s first win. pic.twitter.com/cC6oOi0Gqd
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Speaking during the post-match presentation, Pant first took some time out to celebrate his bowlers, be it pacers or spinners, for their performances.
“I think definitely. I think with bowlers, you know, you have got to appreciate and give them one because, you know, those are the people who set you up for the night, especially when you bowl first. I think (Mohammed) Shami Bhai, Avesh (Khan), (Digvesh) Rathi, I think everyone is contributed really well, especially Siddharth (the spinner) coming in today. You know, we decided as a ground that he is going to make up the play, and he did really well for us,” he added.
LSG opted to bowl first and managed to reduce SRH to 26/4, but a 116-run stand between Heinrich Klaasen (62 in 41 balls, with five fours and two sixes) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (56 in 33 balls, with three fours and five sixes) took the team to 156/9 in 20 overs.
Shami (2/9), Prince Yadav (2/34) and Avesh Khan (2/36) were among the pick of the bowlers, while Manimaran Siddharth (1/29) was economical.
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