Kishan was pleased with the team's fight back with the ball.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) suffered a five-wicket defeat in their IPL 2026 match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday (April 5).
After a disastrous start that saw them at 26/4 in 7.1 overs, SRH recovered to 156/9 thanks to a brilliant 116-run fifth-wicket partnership between Heinrich Klaasen (62) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (56).
Chasing 157, LSG captain Rishabh Pant showed nerves of steel, staying unbeaten on 68 off 50 balls to take his team over the line with one delivery to spare.
Reflecting on the narrow loss, SRH’s stand-in skipper Ishan Kishan commended his team’s fight back with the ball but conceded that they didn’t post winning total on the board.
"No. I think it was a very good game, the total was not enough on the board. I think the bowlers did an extremely good job today. They bowled according to the plan to the right areas, credit goes to the fielders as well for putting all the effort. But one or two boundaries in these kind of totals can go and take the match here and there. So yeah, but I'm happy with the way we fought this game," Kishan said at the post-match presentation.
He also praised Klaasen and Nitish for stepping up with the bat after the top-order collapse, courtesy Mohammad Shami’s exceptional spell with the new ball.
“Losing four wickets so early, it gives pressure to other batsmen as well. So, I think, but still, I'll appreciate Klaasen and Nitish for taking the total so deep. And batting like in a very good manner, like how it was needed. So yeah, credit goes to them. But yeah, we need to work on batting as well, giving so many wickets early on makes it easier for the against team.”
Kishan noted they tried to force mistakes by restricting singles and their bowlers initially gained control in the middle overs, but Pant's composure proved decisive.
“Yeah, 100%. That was the plan, but he was taking on singles, he was smart about it. And that is something, you look for when you're chasing these kind of totals. But yeah, bowled well, but we have to give credit to the batters as well because they, Rishabh played well. As the partnership was needed, at that point of time when they were losing wickets. So, looking at this total, it was actually very hard to defend, but taking it to the last over, gives us a lot of positive notes out of it,” he remarked.
The SRH captain defended his late-innings bowling changes as instinct-driven, aimed specifically at securing vital wickets.
“Yeah, no, I think we were just thinking of bowling Harsh at that point of time and looking for wickets and we got those wickets, he bowled pretty well in those overs. So, it was our side. But like I said, sometimes when the margin is not so much, one or two boundaries will suddenly change the game and that's what happened in the 17th over, I guess, when we got so many boundaries, like two, three boundaries. But I think Harsh bowled exceptionally well and we want him to bowl in the similar manner in upcoming games as well,” he concluded.