IPL 2025: Markram, Pooran shine as LSG end GT’s winning streak

LUCKNOW: A combined bowling effort, followed by blistering half-centuries from Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran, powered Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to a comprehensive six-wicket victory over Gujarat Titans (GT) in the 26th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) here at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium here on Saturday.

Put into bat first, the visitors could amass 180/6 in their allotted 20 overs despite half-centuries from their openers Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan.

The duo laid a solid foundation for a massive total by adding 120 runs in just 12 overs with both scoring half-centuries.

The marathon 120-run opening stand was eventually broken on the first delivery of the 13th over when Avesh Khan got rid of Shubman Gill, who remained the top-scorer with a 38-ball 60, comprised of six fours and a six.

Sudharsan followed suit an over later as he fell victim to Ravi Bishnoi after scoring 57 off 37 deliveries, laced with seven fours and a six.

The back-to-back wickets fuelled LSG’s bowling unit with momentum, which halted the flow of runs for the Titans by striking at regular intervals and eventually restricted the visitors to 180/6 in 20 overs.

For LSG, Shardul Thakur and Ravi Bishnoi led the way with two wickets each, while Digvesh Rathi and Avesh chipped in with one scalp apiece.

In response, the LSG comfortably chased down the 181-run target for the loss of just four wickets and three wickets to spare, thanks to Markram and Pooran.

The home side got off to a decent start to the pursuit as their opening pair of Markram and Rishabh Pant yielded 65 runs in just 6.2 overs.

Markram was the core aggressor of the opening stand, while Pant played a supportive role with an 18-ball 21 until falling victim to Prasidh Krishna.

Following the dismissal, Pooran joined Markram in the middle and put the home side in a commanding position by adding a quickfire 58-run partnership for the second wicket until the former perished after scoring 58 off 31 deliveries with the help of 10 boundaries including a six.

Pooran then shared a brief 32-run partnership with Ayush Badoni before walking back in the 16th over after top-scoring for LSG with a 34-ball 61, studded with one four and seven sixes.

Badoni then took the reins of LSG’s run chase and steered the hosts over the line on the third delivery of the final over by scoring an unbeaten 28 from 20 deliveries.

Krishna was the standout bowler for the Titans, picking up two wickets for just 26 runs in his four overs, while Washington Sundar and Rashid Khan made one scalp apiece.

The six-wicket victory lifted LSG to the third position in the IPL 2025 standings with eight points in six overs, while Gujarat Titans remained second with a similar track record but a superior net run rate.