Lucknow, April 12 Orange cap holder Nicholas Pooran joked that sometimes he surprises himself with his big sixes after scoring 61 runs off 34 deliveries as Lucknow Super Giants registered a six-wicket win over the Gujarat Giants on Saturday.
Pooran’s innings was laced with seven sixes and one boundary as he continued his fine form in the tournament with his fourth half-century, in six games, and was well supported by Aiden Markram’s 58-run opening cameo.
With Sai Kishore being in top form, having claimed 10 wickets heading into the game, Pooran knew he would have to take on the left-arm finger spinner and he did just that by hitting three sixes in Kishore’s first over. The left-hander stated a lot of his game has to do with understanding which players to go after.
"It was absolutely a beautiful wicket to bat on. It's not much talk. As a group we know we have depth in our batting lineup. Unfortunately, Mitch didn't play so Rishabh stepped up and played. Nice to see Aiden get a start and carry on. I surprise myself sometimes. For me, it's about trying to get the ball off as close to the middle of the bat as possible and trust my bat swing. If I tell you everything, they'll figure me out eventually.
"It's about understanding who to take down and leaving the ego away as well sometimes. It is not about hitting sixes for me, it is how I go about my innings. Getting the opportunity to bat at number 3, you need to make the play at times and consolidate at times. I had to be brave and take my matchup on. Today I was lucky, it was the big side and I can hit it in the air and get out too, it was my matchup and today was one of the days when it came off," said Pooran after the match.
Pooran reclaimed the orange cap from Gujarat opening batter Sai Sudharsan, who scored 53 in the first innings and has now scored 333 runs across six innings at a strike rate of 233.49.
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