Nicholas Pooran was Lucknow Super Giants’ best option for the Super Over, given his record against Sunil Narine in T20 cricket over the years, LSG coach Justin Langer said after the loss to Kolkata Knight Riders in an IPL 2026 match at the Ekana Stadium here on Sunday.

“We knew Sunil Narine would bowl, and if you look at Nicholas Pooran’s record, he’s faced Narine more than anyone in world cricket,” Langer said. “We felt he was still our best option.”

The coach added, “I know he hasn’t hit form yet, but if anyone can produce a big moment, it’s Nicky. You back your best players. He has struggled, but the numbers say no one plays Narine better than him. Unfortunately, it didn’t come off.”

Meanwhile, KKR fast bowler Vaibhav Arora said there was no confusion over who would bowl the Super Over. “Narine has been our best bowler and has been with us for so long. Everyone trusts him to do the job, and he did it superbly. There wasn’t much confusion; we had our best bowler, so we had the advantage going into the Super Over.”

Vaibhav praises Rinku

Praising Rinku Singh’s unbeaten 83, Arora said his four sixes off Digvesh Rathi in the 20th over made all the difference. “We won because of Rinku’s innings. Had he not played that knock, we wouldn’t have reached that total. On this pitch, 155 was a decent score,” he said.