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A whirlwind knock from Nicholas Pooran shifted the momentum of the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in favor of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Monday, April 10, as he blasted a 15-ball half-century to own the record for the fastest fifty of the season.
If it were not for Pooran's onslaught, Lucknow would not have come even close to the 213-run target, let alone chase it.
LSG were reeling at 105/5 in the 12th over and needed 108 runs off 53 balls at a run rate higher than 12. They needed someone to play a blinder of an innings, and who better than Pooran to come out all guns blazing and start taking RCB bowlers to the cleaners from the word go?
The southpaw plundering RCB bowlers all around the park ensured that his team wouldn't have to stress out on the run rate at least.
But here's the catch, Lucknow has been using Nicholas Pooran in the lower-middle position mostly at No. 6, which is certainly one or two positions lower than his ideal utilization.
On that note, we are listing three reasons why Pooran should be promoted to No. 4 by the LSG management.
#3 Pooran is a good player of spin
If we look at the number of balls delivered by spinners and pacers to batters batting at each position in the IPL from 2019, we will find that the No. 4 acts as a bridge between the top order and the lower-middle order.
He faces 55 percent spin and 45 percent pace bowling to set up a platform for finishers to launch a late onslaught.
He should be dextrous in spin hitting, and Pooran is one of those rare commodities among overseas batters who tend to play spin very well. He averages 31 with an impressive SR of 139.83 against them.
His numbers batting at No. 4 will exemplify this, as he has scored around 500 runs in 21 innings, averaging 33.20 with an astonishing strike rate of 170.
In this position, he controls the entire innings.
#2 LSG's slow top order
Barring Kyle Mayers, Lucknow's top order lacks the intent to utilize the power play restrictions, more often than not getting stuck in scoring quickly.
Along with KL Rahul, Krunal Pandya, and Deepak Hooda, they form the top order of the Lucknow Super Giants, who by no means are performing well enough to set up a challenging total or chase a big score.
They collectively jammed the innings, which doesn't seem to be going anywhere, and that's where the role of a middle-over enforcer like Nicholas Pooran comes in.
In the middle phase of an innings (overs seven to 15), he averages close to 30, but the most important thing is that he operates at a strike rate of 146 in this stage.
1# Pooran needs time to get going
What we have seen in his 51 IPL matches so far is that Nicholas Pooran likes to take his time (not as much as his teammates) before going berserk.
By sending him to No. 4, LSG will not only ensure that he gets sufficient deliveries, but it will also enable them to pair the left-right combination throughout their batting line-up, in addition to pairing him with Marcus Stoinis.
