Marsh and Pooran help Lucknow edge out Kolkata in high-scoring thriller
Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran impressed in Lucknow Super Giants' third victory of the Indian Premier League season.
Lucknow Super Giants smashed their way to their third victory in the Indian Premier League, beating Kolkata Knight Riders by four runs at Eden Gardens on Tuesday.
In a breathless match that was high on entertainment, Lucknow made 238-3 in the first innings before conceding 90 runs in the powerplay of KKR's chase.
But LSG then claimed five wickets for just 33 runs to turn the tide in their favour.
Highlights included a fourth half-century of the 2025 IPL season for Mitchell Marsh (81) and an unbeaten 36-ball 87 for Nicholas Pooran, while Kolkata's batters were also at it.
Ajinkya Rahane top-scored for KKR with 61 off 35, while Venkatesh Iyer (45) and Rinku Singh (38*) helped make a game of it, and the hosts will see this as a missed opportunity.
KKR were 162-2 by the end of the 13th over, needing 77 more runs off 43 balls to win. But instead of chipping away at the total, middle-order batters took too many chances with big hits that fell to fielders.
The chase had started impressively for KKR, having got to 90-1 before the aforementioned collapse. Ramandeep Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Iyer and Andre Russell all succumbed in swift succession, leaving Singh and Harshit Rana (10) with too much to do.
Earlier, Marsh and Aiden Markram (47) had shared an opening partnership of 99 runs for LSG before Pooran smashed KKR's bowlers around the ground.
LSG go fourth in the IPL, while KKR are sixth.
Next up for LSG are Gujarat Titans on Saturday, while KKR face Chennai Super Kings a day earlier.
Mishti doi for the team tonight pic.twitter.com/LnUzcG8Vy1
— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) April 8, 2025
Data debrief: Free-scoring thriller
Lucknow's total of 238 during their innings is the second-highest total they have ever set in IPL history.
Markram and Marsh put on the highest opening partnership of the season so far, while the latter is the second-highest scorer in the competition in 2025, behind only team-mate Pooran (288).
Meanwhile, the 472 combined score was the highest in a match between LSG and KKR.