Lucknow secure last-ball thriller after Pooran blitz

Nicholas Pooran smashed the fastest fifty of the IPL season in 15 balls as Lucknow Super Giants pulled off a stunning chase of 213 to edge out Royal Challengers Bangalore in a last-ball thriller yesterday.West Indies’ Pooran smashed 62 off 19 balls before he departed but Lucknow crept over the line to win by one wicket in a dramatic final over in Bengaluru."This is for my wife and newborn. We needed to win that game. That partnership between Stoiny and K L was wonderful,” Pooran said."Stoinis kept us in the game. We knew that in the back end of the game it gets easier. The wicket was really nice to bat on. It was all about cashing in and getting the execution right."My second ball went for a six so it put me in a nice position. I’ve been working really hard on my game. This is where I want to be. I spent the last couple of years frustrating myself trying to win games for my team. I’m in a really good space, I’m in a really good state of mind and I just want to enjoy cricket. Have fun, keep a smile and do what’s needed for my team,” he added.Stoinis said yesterday: "I think it was a beautiful pitch. When I came in we were 3 for 20 but I knew I had to attack. I think we need to speak to the IPL about this new rule change with the X-Factor rule coming in. It’s taken me out of the equation with the ball. It’s good for some, not so good for the others.”He added: "It’s good to contribute to the team. We’re a young franchise. This year we hadn’t won away from home yet and it’s important to get off to a good start. I actually think we bowled really well in the powerplay. There was some beautiful shots from Virat and Faf. I thought we bowled well. But history suggests that 200 is not always par here so the plan was to get off to a good start and take it from there.”Lucknow needed five off the last six balls after Ayush Badoni was out hit-wicket for 30 in the penultimate over, hitting his stumps while hammering what would have been a six.Mark Wood and Jaydev Unadkat were dismissed in the final over and Ravi Bishnoi was nearly ‘mankaded’ from the last ball. With the scores level and a super over beckoning, number 11 Avesh Khan scampered a bye and threw his helmet in celebration.Australia’s Marcus Stoinis had earlier clobbered a 30-ball 65, but it was Pooran’s blitz including seven sixes that blew away RCB.Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell notched up 15 sixes between them in Bangalore’s 212-2, with 27 hit in the match in total.Bangalore struck with three early wickets before Stoinis dominated a fourth-wicket stand of 76 with skipper K L Rahul.Impact player Karn Sharma broke the partnership as he sent back Stoinis but Bangalore had a new nemesis in Pooran.The efforts of Pooran and Stoinis eclipsed the power-hitting from Kohli (61), Du Plessis (79 not out) and Maxwell (59) after Bangalore were put in to bat first.Kohli set the tone for Bangalore’s big total with his second fifty of the season in a 96-run opening stand with Du Plessis. Maxwell kept up the charge after Kohli’s departure but Du Plessis delivered a flurry of sixes, including a hit of 115 metres, as he also registered his second half-century of the campaign.BRIEF SCORESLucknow Super Giants 213 for 9 (Stoinis 65, Pooran 62, Siraj 3-22) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 212 for 2 (du Plessis 79*, Kohli 61, Maxwell 59, Mishra 1-18) by one wicket