Pat Cummins maintained a controlled demeanor despite Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) five-wicket loss to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in a high-scoring clash in Match 7 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
After leading SRH to a record-breaking 286 in their previous game, Cummins admitted that their score of 190/9 this time fell short, even on a batting-friendly track.
“It was a different wicket the other day, but we had to score quickly. They batted really well, though. Still a very good wicket; that was the best wicket in the world; this was the second-best wicket. It gripped a little bit, but it was a nice wicket. Every time it was a fresh game, they bowled really well; it was very well planned. It was a pretty good effort to get to 190.
You always need one person to bat throughout the innings, like Ishan (Kishan) did the other day, but they bowled really well; they never let us off the hook. We got 8 batters; it's about going out there and making an impact. You see things you could have done better; that could have been the difference. It's a long competition; we will get a chance pretty quickly, so we need to move on,” Pat Cummins said after the match.
On the other side, LSG skipper Rishabh Pant admitted that winning his first match as captain was a tremendous relief for him. He also praised Thakur's performance and Prince Yadav, who removed Travis Head as his maiden IPL wicket.
Shardul Thakur shined with 4/34 with the ball, while Nicholas Pooran (70 in 26 balls) and Mitchell Marsh (52) made short work of the chase.
“Big relief, but as a team we talk about the process. It's not about getting too high when you win and not about getting too low when you lose. As a team, we can't focus on uncontrollables, my mentor said; focus on controllable, and that is what I did. It was good to see the way Prince bowled, and also Thakur was really good. (On Pooran batting at No. 3) I think we just want to give freedom to him. You have to give someone the charge when he is batting well and he has batted brilliantly for us. The group is coming up nicely; we haven't played our best so far, but we're happy to get a win,” Rishabh Pant said.
SRH will next travel to Vizag to face DC on March 30, while LSG will play its first home match in Lucknow against PBKS on April 1.
(ANI inputs)
