IPL 2025: Cricket fans at Kolkata’s iconic Eden Gardens got a real treat on Tuesday night as Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) lit up the scoreboard against defending champs Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Three blistering knocks from Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, and Nicholas Pooran powered LSG to a massive 238/3 in their 20 overs. Now, they’ve got 239 runs to defend if they want to grab their third win of the tournament.
The action kicked off with KKR winning the toss and choosing to bowl. That decision didn’t faze LSG openers Marsh and Markram, who came out swinging. They tore into KKR’s bowlers, especially Spencer Johnson, with Markram smashing two fours and a six in the fourth over alone. By the end of the powerplay, LSG were cruising at 59/0, with Marsh and Markram piling on the pressure—think sixes flying left, right, and center.
Even KKR’s spin wizard Sunil Narine couldn’t slow them down. Marsh took him apart, and Narine’s first two overs bled 23 runs. At the halfway mark, LSG sat pretty at 95/0, setting the stage for a wild second half.
The fireworks really started when Markram fell for a solid 47, bowled by a sneaky slower ball from Harshit Rana. But Marsh kept the pedal down, racing to a 36-ball fifty—his fourth in five games. Then Nicholas Pooran joined the party, and the pair turned KKR’s attack into a punching bag. Pooran feasted on spin, smashing Narine for two monster sixes and hitting the 2,000-run mark in his IPL career.
The runs kept flowing. Marsh and Pooran hammered 16 runs off Spencer Johnson in the 12th over, and even Varun Chakravarthy’s final over got smashed for two sixes. LSG crossed 150 in just 13.3 overs. Andre Russell finally stopped Marsh at 81—a cracking knock with six fours and five sixes—but Pooran wasn’t done. He raced to a 21-ball fifty, tearing into Russell with three fours and two sixes in a single over that cost 24 runs.
KKR clawed back late, with Rana dismissing Abdul Samad for 6, but Pooran and David Miller stayed unbeaten, pushing LSG to 238/3. KKR’s bowlers took a beating—Rana finished with 2/51, Johnson leaked 46 in three overs, and Russell grabbed 1/32. The spinners, Narine and Varun, went wicketless and pricey.
It’s a mountain to climb for KKR now. Can LSG hold their nerve and defend this monster total? Fans are in for a nail-biter!
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