New Delhi: Fifties from Nicholas Pooran (70) and Mitchell Marsh (52) went hard in the game as they set the base for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to chase down 191 and beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by five wickets in the seventh game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad here on Thursday.
Shardul continued his impressive return, taking 4/34 to help LSG limit a strong SRH to 190/9. Pooran (70 off 26; 6 fours, 6 sixes) showcased his explosive hitting, sharing a quick-fire partnership of 116 runs with Marsh (52 off 31) to guide LSG to victory in 16.1 overs.
Though LSG lost Aiden Markram early in their chase, Marsh and Pooran’s aggressive batting put them firmly in control. Pooran, in particular, was on fire, hitting a barrage of sixes, including huge shots off Simarjeet and Abhishek Sharma, often towards the square boundary.
SRH struggled to contain Pooran, who punished Cummins as well, hitting two fours in his opening over to take LSG to 77/1 in the powerplay.
Pooran brought up the fastest fifty of the season in just 18 balls with a massive six off Zampa.
His blistering knock ended when Cummins trapped him in front in the ninth over. After Pooran’s dismissal, Marsh took charge, reaching his half-century off just 29 balls.
LSG captain Rishabh Pant (15 off 15) didn’t have much impact, but Abdul Samad played a lively cameo to finish the chase.
Earlier, opting to bowl, Shardul (4/34) gave LSG a strong start, removing Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan in consecutive deliveries in the third over. Shardul’s short ball got rid of Sharma, while Kishan was caught behind off a delivery down the leg side.
Travis Head (47 off 28) was in fine form, attacking with power and hitting boundaries and sixes, especially taking Avesh Khan to task by smashing him for two sixes and a four in one over.
Head was fortunate, though, as he was dropped twice. He skied a catch off Ravi Bishnoi, with Pooran failing to hold onto an easy catch at long-on. Later, Bishnoi had another chance to dismiss Head, but a difficult return catch was missed.
Head’s luck ran out when Prince Yadav bowled him out, claiming his first IPL wicket. Heinrich Klaasen (26 off 17) was dismissed in a strange way, run out by Yadav after a straight drive from Nitish Reddy ricocheted onto the stumps off the bowler’s follow-through.
Aniket Verma’s cameo of 36 off 13 balls, which included five sixes, ended when he was caught by David Miller off Rathi’s leg spin. SRH captain Pat Cummins (18 off 4) struck three sixes in his first three balls but was dismissed soon after.
Brief Scores:
SRH: 190/9 in 20 overs (Travis Head 47; Shardul Thakur 4/34).
LSG: 193/5 in 16.1 overs (nicholas pooran 70; pat cummins 2/29).
