Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant wore a wry smile after the Super Over loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Ekana Stadium on Sunday. LSG came close to scripting a comeback win after an unlikely late surge, with Mohammed Shami lifting the crowd with a last-ball six to force a decider. But a questionable tactical call in the Super Over saw KKR cruise through and escape with the win.
“We definitely need a break. We are going to refresh,” Pant said in the post-match chat after Lucknow slumped to their fifth straight defeat in IPL 2026, and sixth overall, leaving them at the bottom of the table.
“We need to take accountability — each and every guy. It has to be about the entire team,” he added.
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LSG needed 17 runs in the final over with three wickets in hand, with Impact Sub Himmat Singh their main hope. Kartik Tyagi was entrusted with the final over, having previously delivered in similar situations. However, two consecutive waist-high no-balls, along with a boundary from Himmat, brought the equation down to 8 off 4.
Tyagi briefly regained control by dismissing Himmat on the third ball, before conceding just one run off the next two deliveries, leaving 7 needed off 2 with Shami on strike. But the veteran stunned the KKR camp by smashing a full delivery over long-off for a six, forcing a Super Over.
With a real chance to seal the game, Pant walked out to bat alongside Nicholas Pooran, who has struggled for form this season, scoring just 82 runs at a strike rate of 81, including a 9-run knock in this match.
Pooran was dismissed off the first ball by Sunil Narine, who struck again the very next delivery, leaving KKR with just 2 runs to win. Rinku Singh finished the job off the first ball.
Explaining the call to back Pooran, Pant said: “We had a discussion as a group, and the name that came up was Nicholas Pooran. He might not be in the best form, but you trust your players in tough situations. No excuses there. Right now, there may not be many positives, but after the break, there will be enough.”
Pant also addressed the decision to hand Digvesh Rathi a crucial over earlier, where Rinku Singh hit four sixes, a phase that proved decisive.
“There are times in cricket where you can tweak things, but sometimes bowlers have to take on tough overs. I was looking for a wicket in the middle phase but didn’t get one. That was the thought process. Too many minds don’t make it easy on the field,” he said.
LSG will next face the Mumbai Indians on May 4 at the Wankhede Stadium.