Lucknow Super Giants handed a debut to Will O’Rourke as they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in Match 61 of IPL 2025 at Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium here on Monday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and elected to bowl first.
At the toss, LSG captain Rishabh Pant called the coin while SRH skipper Pat Cummins chose tails. The coin landed tails, giving SRH the advantage to make the first move.
Pat Cummins said, “We want to know what we are chasing. Never know what the wicket will do. We haven’t played to our potential and want to reach that. A few injuries have given chances to the new guys. We have some unfinished business. The team has been great but hasn’t fired fully. Travis Head is in his hotel room. (Jaydev) Unadkat is on personal leave. (Atharva) Taide and Harsh Dubey come in.”
Pant added, “I don’t mind doing any — bat or bowl. We want to play one match at a time and give our 100%. No unwanted pressure, it is always there. The team has regrouped really well and they are in a good headspace. Will O’Rourke is making his IPL debut.”
The pitch report suggested a batting-friendly surface with a slight sheen favouring the new ball early on. Experts Pommie Mbangwa and Aaron Finch predicted a high-scoring contest under lights, with Finch highlighting the advantage for teams chasing.
The stage is set for an exciting contest as both sides look to register a crucial win in the tournament.
Playing XIs
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Ishan Kishan (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Kamindu Mendis, Pat Cummins (capt), Harshal Patel, Harsh Dubey, Zeeshan Ansari, Eshan Malinga
Impact Player Subs: Mohammad Shami, Atharva Taide, Sachin Baby, Abhinav Manohar, Simarjeet Singh
Lucknow Super Giants: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Akash Deep, Ravi Bishnoi, Digvesh Rathi, Avesh Khan, Will O’Rourke
Impact Player Subs: Himmat Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Manimaran Siddharth, Shardul Thakur, David Miller
