IPL 2025: Nicolas Pooran's milestone mayhem helps LSG sink KKR

NEW DELHI: Nicholas Pooran lit up Eden Gardens with a milestone knock for the ages, powering Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to a four-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2025. The LSG southpaw smashed an unbeaten 87 off just 36 deliveries, helping his team post a mammoth 238/3 -- a total that proved just out of reach for the defending champions.Also See: CSK vs PBKS, IPL Live ScoreIn the process, Pooran also etched his name in the record books by becoming the second-fastest batter in IPL history to reach 2,000 runs, getting there in just 1,198 balls. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Only Andre Russell has achieved the feat faster, needing just 1,120 balls. Pooran now joins elite company and continues to cement his reputation as one of the league’s most destructive batters.Pooran’s innings was a blend of calculated aggression and brute force.He hammered seven fours and eight sixes, including a brutal takedown of Russell in the 18th over, which went for 24 runs. With this knock, Pooran snatched back the Orange Cap, now sitting atop the run charts with 288 runs in five matches at a staggering strike rate of 225.After a steady 99-run opening partnership between Aiden Markram (47 off 28) and Mitchell Marsh (81 off 48), Pooran’s late-innings blitz ensured that LSG surged to their second-highest total in IPL history. His partnership of 71 with Marsh laid the perfect foundation for the final onslaught.For KKR, it was a night to forget with the ball. Their spinners, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, went wicketless and expensive, while Harshit Rana and Spencer Johnson bore the brunt of LSG’s aggression.Despite a valiant 61 from skipper Ajinkya Rahane and a late flourish from Rinku Singh (38 not out), KKR’s 234/7 fell just short, as Pooran's milestone mayhem proved to be the decisive blow in a high-octane clash.