The Lucknow Super Giants wicketkeeper and captain, Rishabh Pant, showed a moment of sportsmanship during the last group-stage match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru when he withdrew an appeal for a 'Mankading' attempt in Lucknow on Tuesday. (Highlights)
The incident happened during the 17th over of RCB's batting when the match was at an interesting stage. Jitesh Sharma was the batter in question. He was batting on 56 runs with RCB needing 29 runs off 19 balls.
Digvesh Rathi was the bowler, and he attempted a run-out on the non-striker's end. He appealed for the run-out, and it was evident that Jitesh was way outside the crease. But, there was 'NOT OUT' on the big screen because of the bowler's release point.
After a few moments, the LSG skipper Pant also withdrew the appeal, showing sportsmanship, and Jitesh hugged him after that.
If Sharma had been given run-out, the course of the game could have been different. LSG were in the game, but Jitesh made an unbeaten 85 off 33 balls to finish the match in his team's favour. He also hit the winning six to end the match with eight balls to spare.
RCB won the match by six wickets and have finished in the top two of the points table. This means they will clash with Punjab Kings in Qualifier 1, and if they win, they will enter the final of the IPL 2025. If they lose Qualifier 1, they will face the winner of the Eliminator in Qualifier 2 for the seat in the finals.
RCB asked LSG to bat first, and they made 227 runs thanks to Rishabh Pant's second IPL ton. He made an unbeaten 118 off 61 balls to take his team to a big total. Mitch Marsh also scored his yet another fifty of the season.
Chasing 228 runs, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli added 61 runs for the first wicket. Kohli made 54 runs off 30 balls, including 10 boundaries. Mayank Agarwal also played an unbeaten knock of 41 runs off 23 balls.
