Pooran and Arya power Lucknow and Punjab to IPL wins

NICHOLAS POORAN hit an unbeaten 87 and Priyansh Arya scored his first IPL century as Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings won their respective matches on Tuesday.

Pooran, along with Mitchell Marsh who made 81, helped Lucknow post 238-3. The total proved just enough as their bowlers secured a four-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens.

In the second match of the day, Arya scored 103 off 42 balls to help Punjab Kings reach 219-6. Their bowlers restricted Chennai Super Kings to 201-5 in Mullanpur, near Chandigarh.

Arya, who was bought by Punjab in the November auction after hitting six sixes in an over in a Delhi Premier League match last year, got his IPL breakthrough with a 39-ball hundred.

"Tonight, he was backing his instincts," Punjab captain Shreyas Iyer said.

"It was free-flowing and that is the mindset I want in everyone. Today, he kept on going, he was fearless and it was basically one of the top knocks I have seen in the IPL so far."

Arya hit seven fours and nine sixes in his innings, registering the second century of this season. It was the fastest hundred against five-time champions Chennai and the fourth joint-fastest in IPL history. Chris Gayle holds the record with a 30-ball hundred.

Punjab were in trouble at 83-5 when Shashank Singh joined Arya. The pair added 71 runs in 34 balls.

Arya was eventually dismissed by Afghanistan spinner Noor Ahmad. Shashank made 52 and South Africa’s Marco Jansen remained unbeaten on 34 as they added 65 runs to close the innings.

Chennai’s chase began well with Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway adding 61 for the opening stand. Conway also shared an 89-run partnership with Shivam Dube before Lockie Ferguson bowled Dube for 42.

MS Dhoni came in to loud cheers, but Chennai's batters could not keep up with the run rate. Conway retired out during the innings.

In the earlier match, Marsh and Aiden Markram gave Lucknow a strong start with a 99-run opening stand. Markram scored 47.

Marsh reached his fifty with a boundary and then shared another big stand with Pooran before being dismissed by Andre Russell.

Pooran went on to complete his half-century in 21 balls. He hit Russell for three fours and two sixes in an over worth 24 runs.

"I've been asked this a million times," said Pooran, who was named player of the match. "I practise a lot. Everything you're seeing in the game, it's because of the practise. At the moment it's just flowing really nicely."

Lucknow captain Rishabh Pant did not bat and is yet to deliver with the bat this season after being signed for a record $3.21 million.

Kolkata started strongly with Sunil Narine’s 13-ball 30 and Ajinkya Rahane’s 61, but a middle-order collapse saw them lose four wickets in 16 balls.

Rinku Singh hit an unbeaten 38 in a late effort, but the team fell short and suffered their third loss in five matches.

(With inputs from AFP)