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Pooran-Marsh onslaught wins the day for LSG despite Rahane’s captain’s knock for KKR

Synopsis: Nicholas Pooran builds on foundation laid LSG openers even as KKR skipper Rahane’s knock goes in vainCaptain Ajinkya Rahane’s half-century and Rinku Singh’s late blows were to no avail as Kolkata Knight Riders’ opening combination flattered to deceive yet again, even after getting off to a decent start. The middle order suffered another mini- collapse as the hosts fell to Lucknow Super Giants 4 runs in a high-scoring encounter at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday.
Rahane’s 61 the only bright spot as KKR fall short
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Chasing 239 for victory, Rahane replaced Quintion de Kock after the South African was dismissed for 15 and got off the mark with two fours while Sunil Narine, who showed glimpses of last year’s form, hit some lusty blows, especially while scything Shardul Thakur for a 6 in the fourth over.
Rahane continued his elegant stroke-play with two boundaries in the fifth over, with Narine joining in the fun. The West Indian then hoicked Avesh Khan for a six off the first ball of the sixth over. The skipper followed suit with a pick-up six and coolly brought out a cover drive to bring up the duo’s 50-run partnership in just 19 balls, with KKR ending the Powerplay at a comfortable 90/1.
KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane in action during IPL 2025 match against LSG. (Sportzpics for IPL)
Digvesh Rathi would strike right after the Powerplay, taking out his idol Narine before doing a variation of his notebook celebration, scribbling on the ground instead of his palms, even as KKR reached 100 in the eighth over.
Venkatesh Iyer, coming off a blering 60 in the previous match, supported his captain as both batters went on the offensive, taking 13 off the 10th over. Rahane brought up his 50 in 26 balls with a delightful paddle-sweep for four in the 11th over with KKR needing 103 from nine overs.Story continues below this ad
The duo reached the 50 of their partnership in the 12th over with KKR reaching 150 in the next over. But Shardul Thakur accounted for Rahane (61) in the 13th over and the hosts lost the plot thereafter. Ramandeep Singh, sent up the order, was the next to depart, scoring just 1 run while Angkrish Raghuvanshi was also sent packing for 5.

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Nicholas Pooran brings up his 50 in style with a maximum 🤩
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With all eyes on Iyer, the KKR vice-captain failed to drag his team over the finish line, falling for 45 off 29 balls as the match went out of Kolkata’s hands. Rinku would offer some hope with a blering 38 off 15 but it was too little too late.
LSG openers lay foundation
With the pitch expected to offer grip, Rahane won the toss and chose to bowl, with the intent of playing to their bowling strengths which, as witnessed during the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, can curb even the most destructive of batting orders on their day.
On Tuesday also, the hosts’ bowling attack started well with Vaibhav Arora giving away just three runs in the first over. But LSG openers Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram mined some boundaries off Spencer Johnson in the next over, the best of them being the Australian’s pick-up shot to deposit his compatriot over the deep square-leg boundary.

The pattern would continue in the next two overs as the LSG batters proceeded with caution against Arora while targeting Johnson, who conceded two boundaries and a six in his second over, conceding 30 runs from just two overs.Story continues below this ad
Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy would be used next but Markram smashed a six off the seamer’s very first delivery as LSG brought up 50 runs in just 5.2 overs. The big shots kept coming in Rana’s over with Marsh smashing a straight six to end the Powerplay at a healthy 59/0.
Narine was also not spared a marauding Marsh, who slapped him for a six and a four in the seventh over before taking 10 off his second over. Rana cleaned up Markram with a ripper for 47, ending LSG’s opening stand at 99.
Pooran takes the big-hitting baton
Marsh, meanwhile, did not slow down, completing his 50 in 36 deliveries, his fourth half-century in this edition of the IPL. He continued getting boundaries at regular intervals while the KKR bowlers also had to contend with Nicholas Pooran, who smashed three boundaries off Johnson’s third over.
Marsh went to a higher gear from the 13th over, hitting Arora to all parts of the ground with a six and a four before both batters took down Chakravarthy, bringing up their 50-run partnership in 19 deliveries. The two veterans kept their big hits coming with Pooran smashing a brace of sixes in Narine’s third over before Andre Russell broke the stand, snapping up Marsh for 81 runs, ending the second-wicket partnership of 71 off 30 balls.
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Pooran, however, kept at it, attacking Russell with a six in the same over, racing to 39 off just 19 deliveries. He brought up his 50 in 21 balls, hitting Rana for two sixes along the way. The West Indian power-hitter would go from strength to strength, mining 24 runs off the 18th over bowled Russell with the help of three fours and two sixes.
Rana would snap up Abdul Samad for 6 but KKR got little respite as Pooran treated them like bowling machines after a point. He would remain unbeaten at 87 and leave the field to loud applause from the fans as Lucknow posted an ultimately match-winning total of 238/3.
Brief scores: LSG 238/3 in 20 overs (Nicholas Pooran 87 not out, Mitchell Marsh 81; Harshit Rana 2/51) KKR 234/7 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 61, Venkatesh Iyer 45, Rinku Singh 38 not out; Shardul Thakur 2/52)

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