Watch: Nitish Kumar Reddy’s ‘Pushpa’ celebration after reaching 50 in SRH vs LSG IPL 2026

While SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) had a poor start in their first IPL 2026 home game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen's strong batting performances helped the hosts to manage a decent first innings total. After completing his well-deserved fifty, SRH star Nitish Kumar Reddy brought his famous 'Pushpa' celebration.

It is the third game for SRH this season, where they were sent to bat first after the LSG skipper Rishabh Pant won the toss. It was a huge battle for the toss to set a challenging first innings total.

In their first home game of the season, SRH were once struggling at 26/4. The middle-order batters Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy played crucial 50+ knocks, which helped them to manage the first innings total of 156/9 in 20 overs.

Nitish Kumar Reddy marks half-century with iconic ‘Pushpa’ gesture

While the former South African cricketer Klaasen took 33 balls to complete his fifty, Nitish reached that mark in 30 balls, where he slammed three fours and four sixes. After completing his fifty, Nitish had the iconic 'Pushpa' celebration, which he previously did in Test cricket. Just like 'Pushpa', whose famous dialogue was "Jhukega nehi", the Indian player also didn't give up in the crisis moment, as he played a huge role in helping the hosts to set a fighting total in the first innings.

Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy combine to rescue SRH innings

Klaasen and Nitish had a 116-run partnership for the fifth wicket. However, once their partnership was broken in the 18th over, SRH only managed to add 14 more runs. While Nitish scored 56 off 33 balls with three fours and five sixes, Klaasen scored 62 off 41 balls with five fours and two sixes. Only the English cricketer Liam Livingstone was the other SRH batter to manage a double-digit score in that innings, as the no.4 batter scored 14 runs before losing his wicket.