Follow UsShubman Gill (56 off 37) and Sai Sudharsan once (60 off 38) again stamped their authority against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 12 (Saturday), adding 120 runs in 12.1 overs - their fourth 100-plus stand in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Unsurprisingly, the two have been the best opening pair in the IPL 2025 - 320 runs in six innings at an average of 53.3 and a strike rate of 147.5.
That’s not it; Gill and Sudharsan are statistically the best opening duo in IPL history. Overall, they have scored 648 runs in nine innings at an average of 72 and a strike rate of 159.2. Among opening pairs who have scored at least 500 runs together, Gill and Sudharsan have the best average (72) in the IPL.
Gill and Sudharsan were fantastic in the first 12 overs but LSG managed to turn things around in the final eight overs. GT were 120/0 at the end of 12 overs but lost six wickets in the last eight overs and scored only 60 runs at a rate of 7.5. That made the real difference as Lucknow chased down the target with only three balls to spare.
With Mitchell Marsh missing the game due to his daughter being unwell, Rishabh Pant opened the innings for LSG alongside Aiden Markram but could still not turn his poor form around. Opening the innings for the first time in the IPL after 3246 days (8 years, 10 months & 20 days), Pant looked scratchy and scored 21 off 18 deliveries before getting out to Prasidh Krishna.
Pant didn’t do much, but Markram and Nicholas Pooran toyed with GT’s bowling unit. Markram crafted 58 off 31 deliveries and did most of the scoring in his 65-run stand with Pant. Meanwhile, Pooran did what he always does, tonking seven maximums in his 34-ball 61. The left-hander got out to Rashid Khan in the 16th over after getting the equation down to 26 off 28.
26 off 28 should have been an easy run chase, but once Pooran got out, Lucknow took the game to the final over. Rashid conceded three in the 16th over before Washington Sundar gave six in the next over. The next two overs went for just 12 runs, with David Miller getting out for seven off 11.
LSG needed six runs in the final over, and the pressure was on Ayush Badoni, who was unbeaten on 18 off 18. R Sai Kishore started the over with a single but Badoni hit the next balls for a four and a six to make sure LSG ended on the right side of the result.