IPL 2026: Shami, Pant to the fore as LSG gets off the mark

Sunrisers Hyderabad, a side already backed into a corner by injury, was pinned to the wall a bit more by a man with a point to prove.

Age had bent Mohammed Shami’s back, not his spirit. He struck, not with the fury of youth, but the precision of a legend to lay the foundation of Lucknow Super Giants’ five-wicket win in IPL 2026 here on Sunday.

Sunrisers have built their identity on explosive PowerPlay scoring, with the ‘Travishek’ duo redefining early-overs aggression. Shami, however, tore up that script. With subtle variations and change of pace, he dismantled both Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head.

The roaring approval from a partisan home crowd when Rishabh Pant decided to bowl made way for eerie silence twenty minutes into the innings. Ishan Kishan had barely settled before Prince Yadav shattered his stumps, as the top-order crumbled. The slide continued when Liam Livingstone fell on his SRH debut, Pant’s sharp glovework snuffing out any attempt at recovery.

At 35 for four, their lowest score after 10 overs in IPL, Sunrisers looked lost, with their usually vibrant crowd desperate for a moment of relief. Even a ball trickling past the 30-yard circle was enough to spark applause.

That relief, when it came, was electric. Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar launched a stunning counterattack, stitching together a 116-run stand off just 63 balls. For a brief spell, the momentum shifted, and the Super Giants wavered as Shami watched from the dugout.

Control, however, was swiftly restored. Manimaran Siddharth broke the stand by sending Nitish packing and Pant’s brilliance removed Klaasen soon after. With that, the surge faded, and SRH was contained to a modest total.

In response, Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh provided a composed start, the former particularly authoritative. Though Eshan Malinga dismissed Marsh, the chase never veered off course.

By the time Markram was undone by Shivang Kumar’s wrong’un in the 10th over, LSG was cruising towards victory. A struggling SRH bowling line-up persevered, triggering a brief wobble and dragging the game right down to the wire. But Pant’s measured, unbeaten 68 ensured there was no late drama. The skipper took LSG home with a boundary aimed at his dugout with just a ball to spare.