Lucknow's Marsh, Pooran continue explosive start to IPL

Marsh made a blazing 81 off 48 balls while Pooran clubbed 87 off 36 balls to guide their team to win

Indian Premier League - IPL - Kolkata Knight Riders v Lucknow Super Giants - Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India - April 8, 2025 Lucknow Super Giants' Mitchell Marsh celebrates after reaching his half century REUTERS/Abhijit Addya

Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran continued their rollicking start to the Indian Premier League (IPL) season as the Lucknow Super Giants duo took the top two places in the batting charts with explosive fifties in their win over Kolkata Knight Riders.

Australian Marsh made 81 off 48 balls, his fourth half-century in five innings, while West Indies' Pooran scored an unbeaten 87 off 36 balls to guide the team to 238-3 before their bowlers secured a four-run win at Eden Gardens on Tuesday.

Marsh has 265 runs for the season, his best tally since his debut in 2010, while Pooran sits top of the run-scoring charts on 288, the pair putting together a 71-run stand against the defending champions.

"The incredible thing about Mitch is he plays cricketing shots," Pooran said.

"If you bowl full he's going to hit you over your head. If you bowl short he's going to hit you for a six. If it's a good ball he tries to get off strike.

"He takes the pressure off and it's nice batting with a guy like that. He's in good nick and we hope it continues throughout this tournament."

Pooran continued the carnage after Marsh's departure in the 16th over to finish with eight sixes and seven fours.

"We're blessed to have him," Marsh said.

"He's an incredible talent. You see someone like him hit as many sixes as he does but he's also really smart, he's a proper batsman and thinks that way. He's really awesome to bat with.

"It's been nice to get to know him. I've played against him a lot. I'm enjoying batting with him."

Lucknow are fifth in the table with three wins from five games, one place above Kolkata.