Digvesh Rathi once again grabbed the spotlight--both with his performance and his fiery celebration. During Match 61 of the Indian Premier League between Lucknow Super Giants and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Ekana Sports Stadium, the LSG spinner had a heated moment with Abhishek Sharma in the eighth over of the second innings. (Live Blog)
While chasing a target of 206, Abhishek was in blistering form, smashing 59 off just 20 balls. But Rathi ended his rampage with a wide googly that Abhishek tried to cut over the off-side, only to slice it to sweeper cover, where Shardul Thakur took a sharp running catch.
Rathi celebrated the big wicket by pulling out his signature notebook celebration, writing in the palm with an imaginary pen. The animated send-off didn’t sit well with Abhishek, who seemed visibly annoyed and exchanged words with Rathi. The on-field umpire had to step in to calm things down.
Asked to bat first, Lucknow Super Giants put up a strong total of 205/7 in their 20 overs, led by Mitchell Marsh’s fluent 65 and Aiden Markram’s classy 61. Nicholas Pooran provided the finishing touches with a quickfire 45 off 26 balls to push the total past 200.
However, it was another forgettable outing for LSG skipper Rishabh Pant, who managed just 7 runs off 6 balls. His underwhelming season with the bat continues, having scored only 135 runs in IPL 2025 so far.
Chasing the target, SunRisers Hyderabad are 186/5 in 16.5 overs, keeping the chase well alive. Digvesh Rathi has been stellar for LSG with the ball -- first removing Abhishek, and later dismissing Ishan Kishan for 35 off 28.
Rathi’s impressive run this season continues. With Monday’s two wickets, his tally now stands at 14 from 12 matches.
This match holds huge importance for the Lucknow Super Giants as they fight to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. A win here is non-negotiable--and even then, they'll need favourable results from other fixtures to sneak into the top four.
As for SunRisers Hyderabad, their campaign is already over. Eliminated from the playoff race, they’re now playing for pride and to disrupt the hopes of those still in contention.
