- Sunday, March 30, 2025
The ruthless strokeplay of Nicholas Pooran and tight bowling by medium pacer Shardul Thakur, who was called in as an injury replacement, helped Lucknow win its first IPL match this season
By: India Weekly
NICHOLAR POORAN slammed 70 off 26 balls as Lucknow Super Giants chased down a target of 191 to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday (27) for their first win of the new IPL season.
Pooran’s power-packed innings featured six fours and six sixes, as the West Indies batsman ruthlessly took the attack to the opposition on a flat Hyderabad pitch.
Lucknow, captained by the most expensive player in the IPL, Rishabh Pant, lost Aiden Markram early before Mitchell Marsh (52) and Pooran put on 116 for the second wicket in barely seven overs together.
Pooran eventually fell lbw to Australia captain Pat Cummins, leaving his team on 120-2 in the ninth over.
Pant walked in with Lucknow well positioned but made a scratchy run-a-ball 15 before miscuing a full toss from Harshal Patel, following Marsh back after he was removed earlier by his international team-mate Cummins.
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Lucknow also lost Ayush Badoni cheaply but Abdul Samad hit an unbeaten 22 off eight deliveries to help them cruise to victory with 23 balls remaining.
Lucknow had won the toss and restricted Hyderabad to 190-9 despite a brisk 47 at the top of the order from Travis Head.
Shardul Thakur’s deadly spell
Shardul Thakur, who wasn’t initially picked up by any franchise and only received a call-up from Lucknow as an injury replacement, finished with his best IPL figures.
Thakur took 4-34 and landed a key double blow by dismissing opener Abhishek Sharma (6) and Ishan Kishan (0) with successive balls in the third over.
Head steadied the innings after Hyderabad slipped to 15-2 before a searing Prince Yadav delivery rearranged his stumps.
Thakur, who won the player-of-the-match award, complained that the “bowlers get very little (help) on these kind of pitches” in the IPL.
“Even in the last game pre-match I said that pitches should be prepared in such a way that the game hangs in the balance for batters and bowlers. Especially after the ‘impact player’ rule, it’s not fair on the bowlers,” he complained.
Several Hyderabad batsmen made starts but couldn’t go on, with Nitish Kumar Reddy contributing 32 and Aniket Verma blasting a quick 36 after Heinrich Klaasen (17) was run out in bizarre fashion at the non-striker’s end.
As Yadav attempted to take a low return catch offered by Reddy, he deflected the ball onto the stumps with Klaasen out of his crease.
Cummins dispatched three of the four balls he faced over the rope in a whirlwind knock of 18, but it came in vain as Hyderabad suffered their first loss.
Pant said that the win was “definitely a big relief”.
“We don’t want to get too high after winning and too low after losing, taking it one match at a time,” said Pant.
He also praised Pooran, insisting the team “just want to give freedom to him. I like that freedom too. But we’ve just told him to go express himself and he’s batting phenomenally for us”. (AFP)
