Nicholas Pooran’s unbeaten 87 and Mitchell Marsh’s explosive 81 set up Lucknow Super Giants’ thrilling 4-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders in a 472-run epic at Eden Gardens.
Kolkata, April 8: In one of the most entertaining matches of the IPL 2025 season so far, Lucknow Super Giants held their nerve to seal a thrilling 4-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday. Explosive knocks from Nicholas Pooran (87 off 36)* and Mitchell Marsh (81 off 48) powered LSG to 238/3, before a valiant chase from Ajinkya Rahane and Rinku Singh fell just short.
Chasing 239, KKR came out firing. Sunil Narine (30 off 13) and Quinton de Kock (15 off 9) gave a quick start, followed by a classy 61 off 35 balls from skipper Ajinkya Rahane. Despite quick wickets in the middle order, Venkatesh Iyer (36) and Rinku Singh (38 off 15)* kept the game alive until the final over.
KKR needed 21 runs off the last 6 balls, but Harshit Rana (10)* and Rinku couldn’t quite finish the job as the hosts ended at 234/7.
For LSG, Akash Deep (2/55) and Shardul Thakur (2/52) picked crucial wickets, while youngsters Ravi Bishnoi, Digvesh Rathi, and Avesh Khan kept things tight in the middle overs.
Earlier, put into bat, LSG openers Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram (47 off 28) put on a 99-run opening stand. Marsh hit six fours and five sixes in his knock before falling to Andre Russell. The real carnage came later as Nicholas Pooran went berserk in the death overs, slamming seven fours and eight sixes, including 24 runs in a single over off Russell.
Pooran brought up his third fifty of the season in just 21 balls and stayed unbeaten to take LSG to their second-highest total of the season.
Despite the loss, KKR showed immense fight. With this win, LSG climbed to fourth on the points table with 6 points, while KKR slipped to sixth with 4 points.
Brief Scores:
- LSG: 238/3 (Nicholas Pooran 87, Mitchell Marsh 81; Andre Russell 2/32)*
- KKR: 234/7 (Ajinkya Rahane 61, Rinku Singh 38; Akash Deep 2/55, Shardul Thakur 2/52)*
Result: Lucknow Super Giants won by 4 runs.