Sanjiv Goenka reacts after Rishabh Pant's maiden IPL hundred for LSG; franchise owner calls captain's knock ‘Pant'astic'
IPL 2025, LSG vs RCB: Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka described Rishabh Pant's maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) hundred for the franchise as 'Pant'astic!' on Tuesday. After a poor IPL 2025, Pant saved his best for LSG's final game of the season as he blazed his way to an unbeaten 118 off 61 balls to power the hosts to 227/3 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Ekana Stadium on May 27.
'Pant'astic! (with an emoji of clap) #LSGvsRCB,' wrote Goenka on X.
The southpaw (118 not out, 61b, 11x4, 8x6) and Mitchell Marsh (67, 37b) added 152 runs for an impressive second-wicket stand as the LSG made the most of a fine pitch and some wayward bowling by RCB. Throughout this season, Pant struggled to find his range, striking at a mere 107, and the skipper's underwhelming efforts with the bat had a huge impact on the fortunes of the Lucknow side.
But Pant rewrote the script on the night, hitting the ball with the required amount of power and a strike-rate hovering around 200. Once he refrained from overhitting the ball, Pant's timing also returned automatically.
The left-hander started the carnage by clattering Yash Dayal for 18 runs in the fourth over that included a sequence of 6, 4,4. Pant only grew in confidence from that point, and it rubbed off on his partner Marsh as well.
The Aussie batter started a bit slow, reaching 19 off his first 16 balls, but from there, 'Bison' took his batting to a different level, starting with a pulled six off Romario Shepherd.
Pant soon reached his fifty, his second of the season, off 29 balls, hitting leg-spinner Suyash Sharma for two successive fours. Marsh, who crossed 600 runs for his finest IPL season in a decade, went past his fifty in 31 balls with a six off Suyash.
It was a special way to get to a landmark, too, as Pant carved an outside off-stump delivery over covers for a four and celebrated in style with an acrobatic somersault.
It was the quintessential Pant shot that carried all his idiosyncrasies in an inning in which he generally stuck to conventional ways of batting, as he later added 49 runs for the third wicket with Nicholas Pooran.
The legion of Pant and LSG fans had been hoping to see more of it early in the season, but this recent display has at least filled them with some hope for a better IPL 2026 season next year.
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