Pooran has been in sparkling form.
| Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA
A buoyant Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will look to kick off its IPL 2025 home campaign with a win against Punjab Kings at the Ekana Cricket Stadium here on Tuesday.
LSG comes into the fixture on the back of a stunning away win against Sunrisers Hyderabad, in a game where the pre-match odds were stacked heavily against it.
Punjab Kings too has wind in its sails, gained from edging Gujarat Titans in a high-scoring thriller a week ago.
The centrepiece of Kings’ pre-match planning for Tuesday will likely be LSG’s batting talisman Nicholas Pooran, the leading run-scorer this edition.
The West Indian batter has been on the rampage, scoring 145 runs in two games at a staggering strike rate of 258.92, smashing 12 fours and 13 sixes.
On Tuesday, Pooran and Co. will be up against a Kings bowling attack which nearly fumbled in a 243-run defence against Titans.
To make it worse for Kings, Pooran enjoys a sturdy match-up against Yuzvendra Chahal, their lead spinner. The leg-spinner has dismissed the left-handed batter just once in T20s while conceding 127 runs at a strike rate of 167.10.
Kings’ batting efforts will be led by captain Shreyas Iyer who scored a free-stroking 42-ball unbeaten 97 against Titans on his team debut.
Both teams will be wary of the generally sluggish nature of the Lucknow surface. Since 2023, Ekana has had the lowest run-rate (8.17) among all grounds in the IPL.
Published – March 31, 2025 07:21 pm IST