A clean and powerful striker of the ball, Nicholas Pooran is one of the hottest players going around in T20 cricket.
The West Indian left-hander is proving to be a massive player for his new team Lucknow Super Giants, who spent a whopping Rs 16 crore (Rs 160 million) to buy him at the auction.
Pooran has made a stunning impact in IPL 2023, smashing 141 runs from four games at an amazing strike rate of 220, including 14 sixes and nine fours in 64 balls faced so far this season.
On Monday, April 10, 2023, he played one of the most destructive innings ever witnessed in IPL, blasting his way to an entertaining 62 from 19 balls to turn the match on its head and leave RCB shell-shocked.
Chasing a mammoth 213 for victory, Lucknow looked out of the contest after being reduced to 23/3 in the fourth over.
Australian Marcus Stoinis, preferred ahead of Quinton de Kock, brought the visitors back into the contest with his brilliant 65 from 30 balls.
But his and K L Rahul's departure in the space of four balls once again tilted the scales in RCB's favour.
When Rahul got out, LSG needed 108 from 53 balls and things looked near impossible as the asking rate creeped above the 12 run mark.
Pooran's sensational counter-attack turned the match on its head in the matter of a few overs.
The only time Pooran showed some patience at the crease was the first ball, which he faced from leg-spinner Karn Sharma, offering a straight bat defence. After that, he sent the ball flying to all parts of the stadium.
He heaved Karn over the leg side for a six, before he punished the veteran leggie again with back to back sixes in the 13th over.
He also targetted Harshal Patel, clubbing the medium pacer for two sixes and a four in the 14th over.
It was raining fours and sixes at the M Chinnaswamy stadium as the home fans were left silenced by the sudden onslaught.
Wayne Parnell was hit for a straight six over long-on as Pooran raced to his fifty from just 15 balls -- the fastest in this year's IPL and the joint second fifty overall in IPL history.
His innings was in stark contrast to his partner Ayush Badoni, who focussed on playing the supporting act. While Pooran blazed his way to 62 from 18 balls, Badoni made just 22 from the same number of balls.
Pooran eventually departed after an unbelievable innings, hitting seven sixes and four fours. He was unlucky to hit a high full toss straight into the hands of the fielder at square leg, but he had left LSG in sight of victory, with 24 required from the last three overs.
RCB kept fighting till the end as they chipped away at the wickets. With one needed from the final ball, wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik fumbled a straightforward take in his attempt to run the stumps down as the LSG last pairing of Avesh Khan and Ravi Bishnoi stole a quick bye to clinch a famous win.
LSG also entered the record books as they successfully chased down the fourth highest total in the IPL.
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