In a rare moment of outburst, Nicholas Pooran, vice-captain of Lucknow Super Giants, was seen fuming in the dressing room during the match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday at the Ekana Stadium. LSG lost the game by six wickets to suffer an elimination from the race to the playoffs as Sunrisers, who had already incurred a similar fate earlier this month, secured only their fourth win this season.
The incident occurred at home during the final over of LSG's innings. On the second ball of the over from Nitish Reddy, Pooran slapped the length ball towards deep mid-wicket, hoping for a maximum, but settled only for a single. He looked desperate for a second run, and it would have been possible had he not slipped while turning for the second run. He almost ran into Reddy, who escaped just in time, but Pooran slipped and missed the second run as a cautious Abdul Samad stopped him in his risky attempt.
On the very next ball, Pooran was run out as he tried to sneak in a bye to get on strike, only for SRH keeper Ishan Kishan to hit the bullseye just in time. The dismissal left Pooran fuming, resulting in the outburst in the dressing room after the final ball of the innings was played. As Samad, LSG's last batting hope, was dismissed on the penultimate ball of the over, the camera spotted Pooran "nearly shattering the glass" in the LSG dressing room as captain Rishabh Pant looked on. Pooran then animatedly talked to the India star, gesturing towards the match as LSG set a target of 206.
SRH script six-wicket win
With Lucknow finding themselves in the midst of a three-way battle for the final playoffs spot in the season, it was a must-win game for the Pant-led side. However, Sunrisers comfortably chased it down with 10 balls to spare.
{{/usCountry}}With Lucknow finding themselves in the midst of a three-way battle for the final playoffs spot in the season, it was a must-win game for the Pant-led side. However, Sunrisers comfortably chased it down with 10 balls to spare.
{{/usCountry}}Abhishek Sharma led the charge with his blazing 20-ball 59, comprising six maximums and four boundaries, before Heinrich Klaasen (47 off 28) and Kamindu Mendis (32 off 21) ably contributed in the run chase.
The six-wicket loss at home, LSG's fifth defeat in the last six matches, saw the Lucknow side fall out of the race to make the playoffs.