Lucknow Super Giants' hopes of reaching the Indian Premier League playoffs were extinguished by SunRisers Hyderabad on Monday, May 19. Playing at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, SRH chased down a record 206 runs, the highest ever chase at the venue, to knock Rishabh Pant's side out of the tournament.

SRH perhaps played their most complete match of the season, where both the batting and bowling departments complemented each other to chase down the record total with 10 balls and 6 wickets remaining.

set up the chase for SRH on the night. Abhishek's incredible 18-ball fifty set the tone for the side in what was perceived to be a tricky chase on Monday. After Abhishek's incredible assault, where he scored at nearly 300 SR, Heinrich Klaasen (47 off 28) and Kamindu Mendis (32 off 21) shouldered the side and played some risk-free cricket to secure the team's win on Monday.

IPL 2025, LSG vs SRH: Updates | Full Scorecard

There was slight panic as Klaasen (caught out) and Kamindu (retired hurt) fell in a space of 2 balls in the 18th over, but Nitish Reddy and Aniket Verma were able to take the team over the line with 10 balls remaining.

SRH probably finally found their template, where they allowed Klaasen and Kamindu to bind the innings together, without unnecessary aggression, which many have complained about this season.

Before Klaasen and Kamindu, SRH No.3 Ishan Kishan played a decent-ish innings, playing second fiddle to Abhishek Sharma. Ishan scored 35 off 28 (125 SR) in an innings .

While keeping in the first innings, Kishan dropped two catches and missed one simple stumping, that nearly had SRH crash and burn once again. Kishan's mistakes allowed LSG to cut loose in the first 10 overs, but the visitors pulled the game back with some sensational bowling in the middle overs on Monday.

Rishabh Pant's Woes Continue

Many argued before the season that LSG had the most unbalanced team in the IPL 2025. The absence of specialist openers, the lack of fit fast bowlers, and the record of Rishabh Pant in the T20 format raised a lot of questions about LSG's auction strategy.

LSG started their season well but Pant never could come into his own. As the tournament progressed, LSG's form mimicked Pant's when it should have been the other way around. As the season unravelled thick and fast, both Rishabh Pant and LSG could not recover from the slumber, resulting in five losses from six games since mid-April.

Neither could Pant find his form with the bat, nor did he do well as a captain this season. On Sunday, Pant's horror show as a captain was apparent once again, after he took off Digvesh Rathi from the attack, right after he picked up the wicket of Abhishek Sharma to break SRH's 82-run partnership.

Taking Digvesh off the attack let Heinrich Klaasen settle into his rhythm, which essentially helped SRH to walk to the target.

Marsh-Markram Should be Retained

Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram, the makeshift opening pair of LSG, once again put in an impressive show in the Indian Premier League's 2025 season. The duo added 115 runs in 10.3 overs, giving LSG a flying start against SRH on Monday.

Yes, both of them were dropped early in the game, but the duo did well to shake that off and attack the SRH fast bowling attack, which has leaked runs this season.

Markram (61) and Marsh (65) now have 483 runs between them and are the second most successful partnership this season, only behind the prolific Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan from GT.

Of all the people that Lucknow can retain, they would do well to keep the overseas duo, who not only can score runs, but can prove to be very handy with the ball as well. Marsh is not bowling this season due to injury, but he could be useful in that department next season as well.

After the fall of the duo, LSG's batting went into a massive limbo, due to Rishabh Pant's yet another woeful innings which sucked the momentum out of the team's innings.

As LSG started losing a wicket in every other over, SRH grew into the game, courtesy of superb spells from Eshan Malinga and Pat Cummins, who used the slower ball - on the full length and into the ground - to good effect. SRH clawed their way back into the game, but found resistance from Nicholas Pooran, who put in a heroic effort of 45 off just 26 balls.

Pooran found it tough to get going in the first part of his innings, when SRH cramped him with yorkers from around the wicket. The batter, desperate to get going, charged Harshal Patel and Nitish Kumar Reddy in the final three overs and helped LSG get over the 200-run mark, a target that had never been chased before.

However, LSG were not able to save themselves on the day, as Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan's strong second-wicket partnership set the base for the team's victory.

LSG Need to Introspect

As their IPL 2025 campaign comes to a disappointing close, Lucknow Super Giants must take a hard look at the decisions that led to their downfall. From a poorly balanced squad to questionable leadership, this season has exposed multiple cracks in the franchise's foundation.

The lack of specialist openers, an injury-prone pace attack, and an overreliance on out-of-form players like Rishabh Pant have all played a role in derailing their playoff hopes. Pant's struggles, both as a batter and a captain, mirrored the team's inconsistent performances, raising doubts over his long-term role in the setup.

While there were bright spots - such as the resilience of youngsters like Digvesh Rathi and the consistent contributions from overseas stars Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram - they were too few to carry the team through a competitive tournament.

Moving forward, LSG must revisit their auction strategy, invest in dependable domestic talent, and clearly define leadership roles. There's potential within the squad, but unless the franchise learns from this turbulent season and builds with clarity and intent, a return to the playoffs will remain out of reach.