After the hundred in the first match, Ishan Kishan had scored just 125 runs at a strike-rate of 106.83 in 10 innings coming into the match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). In Lucknow, though, he played a highly-efficient anchor role with 94 off 48 to make sure the high-intent Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) line-up didn't run out of batters in the end. It took SRH to 231, the 42nd score of 200 or more in IPL 2025, the highest number of such scores in a season. The target of 232 was also more than any they have chased down successfully.
Outside Kishan, though, Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen and Aniket Verma all put the RCB bowling under extreme pressure. They expected the pitch to be tricky, but in an over they decided it was a belter and that they needed 230 to 240. Abhishek started the charge with 34 off 17, Head was more sedate with 17 off 10, Klaasen almost effortless in his 24 off 13 and Aniket actually hit good balls for sixes in 26 off 9.
When RCB finally got rid of all four of them, they could get in four quiet overs: only 30 came from overs 13 to 16. Romario Shepherd, who turned RCB's last game around in the final few overs around with the bat, threatened to do so with the ball here. Having been introduced only in the 15th over, he took the wickets of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Abhinav Manohar in two overs for just 14.
This is when Kishan's innings was crucial. He scored 54 out of the 86 that came since the wicket of Aniket at 145 for 4 in the 12th over. He did so without taking the high risks that his partners had been taking. Kishan and Pat Cummins added an unbeaten 43 in the last three overs.