Courtesy: BCCI/IPL
Nicholas Pooran, the West Indies cricketer, has started the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season with a bang for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), hitting two fifties in the first two matches, which were laced with sixes all around the ground. After scoring a 26-ball 70, a match-winning innings which included six fours and as many maximums, for LSG against hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Hyderabad, Nicholas Pooran stated in an interview that he doesn’t plan to hit sixes.
The left-handed batter spoke about how he tries to get into good positions, and let his instincts take over from there, which allows him to time the ball nicely more often than not. Pooran also alluded to putting in nine years into his batsmanship before stating that the opportunities to get higher up the order in the batting lineup has helped him to maximise the powerplay stage to the best of his abilities.
As per the report from ESPNcricinfo, Nicholas Pooran was quoted as saying, “I don't plan to hit sixes.. I just try my best to get in good positions and if it's there, just time the ball nicely. In the last nine years I have been working on my craft. Obviously, I have been getting the opportunity to bat higher up in the powerplay as well. It is really important to cash in when the wicket is nice and obviously when the match-up is there you try your best to execute your skills.”
Nicholas Pooran scored his third fastest fifty in IPL cricket in Hyderabad last night
After the all Indian bowling lineup of LSG, inspired by Shardul Thakur’s four-wicket haul, restricted the highly accomplished SRH team to a below par total of 190/9 in their allotted 20 overs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, Nicholas Pooran arrived at the crease in the second over at the fall of Aiden Markram’s wicket. The West Indian cricketer didn’t take much time to get into his work, smashing the likes of Simranjeet Singh and Abhishek Sharma for a couple of sixes each before taking down the rest of the SRH bowlers.
When Nicholas Pooran, who had smashed his third fastest IPL fifty in 18 balls, was trapped in front of the stumps by SRH captain Pat Cummins in the ninth over of the LSG innings, they had already scored 120 runs, needing just 71 runs to win the match. While the hosts did chip away at the wickets in the second half of the LSG batting effort, it ultimately was far from enough as the runs were chased down with 23 balls to spare.
