It was a batting blockbuster at the Ekana stadium in Lucknow on Saturday, April 12, 2025.
While Gujarat Titans' elegant duo, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan, thrilled with their finesse and timing, Lucknow Super Giants' Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram brought the spectators to their feet with their fearless strokeplay.
Chasing 181, LSG cruised to victory despite the match stretching into the final over.
'I surprise myself sometimes,' said Nicholas Pooran -- a fitting understatement after the carnage he unleashed on the hapless Titans bowlers in yet another ruthless exhibition of power-hitting.
Pooran has been in a league of his own in IPL 2025. He leads the run charts with a staggering 349 runs from just six matches at a mind-boggling strike rate of 215. And with four fifties to his name already, he is setting the tournament ablaze.
He has already opened a big gap in the six hitting charts, with 31 sixes; Shreyas Iyer trails far behind with 20 sixes.
On Saturday, the West Indian southpaw once again reminded everyone why he is one of the most destructive batters in T20 cricket, hammering a breathtaking 61 off 34 balls to power LSG to a commanding win.
His consistency has been remarkable with scores of 87 not out (36 balls), 12 (6), 44 (30), 70 (26) and 75 (30) in the previous five matches.
The Titans bowling attack, which had come into the game on the back of some strong performances in recent games, looked completely clueless against Pooran's assault.
He took four balls to warm up, before he lofted Rashid Khan straight back over his head for a six. Two balls later, he again smashed it straight but this time back at the bowler, who managed to get a hand to it, but failed to hold on -- a tough chance which went down but ended up being very costly for the Titans.
R Sai Kishore, the Titans' most consistent bowler so far, faced the full force of Pooran's flowing blade.
He started with a flighted delivery right in the slot as Pooran got a big stride out to slog it over midwicket for a six. Sai Kishore changed his line to round the wicket but the result was the same as Pooran again despatched him over cow corner and hammered the last ball over long-on.
24 runs from the 10th over saw LSG race to 114/1 at the halfway mark, setting the stage for LSG's romp with the bat.
Pooran has been devastating against spinners this season -- 22 of his 31 sixes have come against them, scoring 188 off 69 balls at a staggering strike rate of 272.
Aiden Markram didn't have many takers at the IPL auction, picked up by LSG for his base price of Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million).
But he is definitely proving to be a shrewd acquisition, a quiet force at the top of the order with his consistent performances with the bat.
After a modest start with 44 runs in his first three games, the South African has clicked into gear with scores of 53, 47, and 58 in his last three games.
Despite Pooran smashing 61 from 34 balls, Markram was named the player of the match for his match-winning 58 from 31 balls, complemented by a vital catch to dismiss Gill at a vital point in the game.
With 202 runs in six games at a strike rate of 153, the 30 year old is looking on course to better his highest-ever IPL tally of 381 runs in 14 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2022.
The move to opening the innings for LSG has suited him perfectly. He has formed a dangerous opening duo with Mitchell Marsh, who has also been in red-hot form himself with four fifties in five matches.
With Marsh missing this game due to his daughter's illness, Captain Rishabh Pant stepped up to open, looking to rediscover his form after a string of underwhelming outings.
Pant, opening for the first time in IPL since 2016, struggled to get going as Markram set the tone for LSG, targeting Mohammed Siraj in the early overs.
After hitting Siraj for a boundary through the covers in the opening over before carting for a couple of overs in his next to disrupt the GT lead pacer's rhythm early in the contest.
He also targeted Prasidh Krishna, heaving the pacer's first ball over midwicket for a six. Amazingly, he was put down twice in the same over with Arshad Khan putting down a simple catch at short thirdman before Sai Sudharsan put down a tough chance in the covers.
The openers put on 65 runs from 37 balls, with Pant contributing 21 from 18 balls before he once again perished without making a significant contribution.
With Pooran taking centerstage as he went after the GT bowlers with a barrage of sixes and fours, Markram kept pace as he hit his fair share of boundaries, racing to his fifty from just 26 balls -- his second in a row at the Ekana stadium in Lucknow.
Shubman Gill looks to be slowly regaining his touch.
After a quiet start, he notched up his second fifty in three innings -- 60 off 38 balls -- showcasing glimpses of the form that made him a sensation.
Having failed to cross 50 in his first three innings, the GT skipper has staged a mini-revival, guiding Titans to a strong start in this clash and making them one of the hot favourites for the title.
Despite buying Jos Buttler for a whopping Rs 15.75 crore (Rs 157.5 million), Titans were firm in their decision to continue with their left-right opening combination of Gill and Sai Sudharsan.
Even though the two batters don't go hammer and tongs in the Powerplay, both still scored at a good rate, without playing a shot in anger.
Gill did well to disrupt the LSG pacers' rhythm by regularly using his feet to regularly breach the gaps in the field for boundaries.
His 50-run stand with Sudharsan was the 12th 50-plus partnership between the duo in 24 innings in the IPL.
The duo continued to blossom as the boundaries kept flowing at regular intervals. At the halfway mark, Titans had raced to 103/0 in 10 overs -- to register the first century opening stand by any team in IPL 2025.
Gill also went past the landmark of 2,000 runs for the Gujarat Titans -- becoming the first player to do so.
Since his debut for GT in IPL 2022, Gill has scored 2,007 runs in 51 innings at an average of 44 and a strike rate of 147, including four centuries and 12 fifties.
IPL 2023 was Gill's best season for Titans, when he amassed 890 runs in 17 matches at an average of 59, at a strike rate of 157, with three centuries and four fifties. Overall, he has scored 3,424 runs in 109 IPL games at a strike rate of 136.
Gill's dismissal after scoring 60 from 38 balls proved to a crucial moment in the contest, as GT struggled to maintain the momentum, losing regular wickets to finish on a below-par 180/6 in their 20 overs.
In a tournament filled with big names from around the world, Sai Sudharsan is emerging as the finest Indian batter of IPL 2025.
The young left-hander was at his elegant best as he stroked a fifty against LSG to continue his record-breaking run with the bat this season.
He set the tone from ball one, with a cracking boundary through point off the first ball of the match bowled by Shardul Thakur followed by a beautiful straight drive off Akash Deep in the next.
Another memorable shot was his whip off Avesh Khan to take Titans past the 50-run mark in the sixth over.
He raced to his fifty from 32 balls -- his third season and 10th overall in IPL.
Such is his consistency, that was his seventh 50-plus score in the last 10 IPL innings.
The 120-run stand between Gill and Sudharsan was the third highest opening partnership for the Titans in the IPL. The duo, who have opened nine times in the IPL, tally an impressive 648 runs as an opening pair at an average of 72.
Sudharsan just loves batting in the Powerplay where he averages a whopping 98.50.
Photographs: BCCI
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