After Ajinkya Rahane’s Kolkata decided to bowl first, Nicholas Pooran and Mitchell Marsh’s explosive knocks took Lucknow to a mammoth total of 238 runs in the IPL 2025 games against Kolkata Knight Riders.
The in-form batters have crumbled the bowling attack of the KKR, with Marsh scoring 81 off 48 deliveries with the help of 6 fours and 5 sixes and Nicholas Pooran accumulating 87 runs off 36 deliveries.
Batting first Lucknow 95 runs in the first 10 overs, LSG went berserk in the second half as a six-hitting spree from Marsh and Pooran helped them compile 143 more runs.
LSG openers Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram took the attack to KKR bowlers, with Spencer Johnson, with Markram dominating him with two fours and a six in the fourth over, giving his team 18 runs.
The final over of the powerplay by Harshit Rana was also a big one, as Marsh and Markram collected a six each, bringing up the 50-run mark in 5.2 overs. At the end of six overs in the powerplay, LSG was 59/0 with Markram and Marsh unbeaten.
Mayhem at the Eden 💥 pic.twitter.com/EpyT4I86OU
— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) April 8, 2025
Speaking at the toss, KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane said “We are going to bowl first. The wicket looks really good, it’s not that hot. The wicket won’t change much. One side boundary is small, that’s why we are bowling first. Everyone is looking forward to this game.
This game is all about starting fresh, need to take the positives, need to take one step at a time. People are going to talk about it, we know Quinny and Sunil are match-winners. We are not worried about them. Spencer comes in place of Moeen”.
While LSG captain Rishabh Pant said “Wouldn’t say very happy. Not thinking about the past too much. Will take the positives and move forward. As a team we are winning and as a captain I am happy. We are playing with the same playing XI”.
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Shardul Thakur, Akash Deep, Avesh Khan, Digvesh Singh Rathi
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Vaibhav Arora, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy
