Nicholas Pooran shakes off KKR horror, decimates Mumbai Indians with 16-ball fifty
IPL 2026, MI vs LSG: Nicholas Pooran silenced critics with a blistering 16-ball fifty, smashing 63 off 21 balls to power LSG after a poor run of form. He tore into MI's bowlers with fearless hitting before Corbin Bosch ended his stunning knock.
Nicholas Pooran redeemed himself with a stupendous 16-ball half-century when Lucknow Super Giants locked horns with Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2026 match on Monday, May 5 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Pooran wasn’t in the best of form coming into the game, scoring only 82 runs from eight matches at an average of 10.25.
Moreover, he had a horror outing against Kolkata Knight Riders in Lucknow a week ago. Pooran managed just nine runs in the 20-over contest before being dismissed by Varun Chakravarthy. Thereafter, he fell for a duck in the Super Over, where Sunil Narine got the better of him. It was his third IPL duck in Super Overs in as many matches.
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Pooran was in such poor form that former South African fast bowler Dale Steyn said that LSG shouldn’t have sent him in for the Super Over. But on Monday, Pooran showed why he is regarded as a brute force in T20s and why one shouldn’t write him off by any means.
NICHOLAS POORAN TAKES DOWN MI
Pooran unleashed a breathtaking counterattack on the MI bowlers, scoring 63 runs off 21 balls with the help of one four and eight sixes. Walking in at No.3 after Josh Inglis fell early to Allah Ghazanfar, Pooran wasted little time in stamping his authority.
He stitched together a rapid 94-run stand with Mitchell Marsh, dictating terms from the outset and shifting the momentum firmly in Lucknow’s favour.
Pooran was particularly ruthless against spin, dismantling Will Jacks and Ghazanfar with a flurry of slog sweeps and lofted hits. Anything drifting into his arc was dispatched, as he repeatedly cleared the ropes over mid-wicket and long-on.
His ability to pick length early and maintain a strong base allowed him to dominate even the quicker bowlers. Deepak Chahar and Jasprit Bumrah were not spared either, with Pooran using the pace on offer to find boundaries and keep the scoreboard ticking.
Pooran looked unstoppable before Corbin Bosch eventually dismissed him. Bosch got rid of the left-hander with a sharp short ball on leg-stump, rushing him on the pull as a glove edge carried to Ryan Rickelton behind the stumps.
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