GT vs LSG | Marsh's maiden IPL ton deals Gujarat severe blow in bid for top-two finish

Asked to bat first, Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh got Lucknow Super Giants off to a flying start as a 14-run over off Arshad Khan in the second set the tone for a massive powerplay. The duo took their time coming to terms with the swinging new ball against Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada, taking no undue risks, before Marsh lambasted the Proteas pacer for back-to-back maximums and leave LSG sitting pretty at 53/0 after six overs. 32 more runs came off the next three overs before Marsh brought up a 33-ball half-century in the same over that Sai Kishore finally broke through to end the 91-run stand at the halfway stage. Nevertheless, Nicholas Pooran announced his intentions with a first ball six, but was happy playing spectator when Marsh took Rashid Khan for 25 runs in the 12th over and inched closer to a ton. A tight Prasidh Krishna over did little to stop the momentum either, as Pooran merrily joined in on the party with a counterattack on Siraj in a 20-run 16th over. Marsh brought up a maiden IPL century four balls later, off 55 deliveries, before Pooran reached his 50 in 23 balls and set the stage for the death. Marsh registered a couple more maximums, this time off Krishna to bring his tally for the night to eight, and two sixes from Rishabh Pant in the final over following the Aussies departure meant that GT had to chase 236 for two points.

The hosts began well, with Sai Sudharsan's two boundaries in the first over sparking hope and Shubman Gill's three back-to-back fours two overs later inspiring confidence. However, a sharp catch from Markram saw Sudharsan depart for 21 in the penultimate over of the powerplay and even though Jos Buttler made a grandstand arrival by smashing Avesh Khan for 21 runs in the final over of the powerplay, the wicket of Gill to Avesh Khan in the eight over further dented GT's chances. When Akash Singh dispatched Buttler for a 18-ball 33 at the halfway stage, the contest looked parctically over as the hosts still needed 139 runs off the final 10 overs. Nevertheless, Sherfane Rutherford and Shahrukh Khan kept the team in the hint with frequent boundaries to keep the scoring rate under check, but it was not until the duo switched gears and whacked 51 runs between overs 13 and 16 to make it a contest with 54 required off the final four. Will O'Rourke gave the game another twist when he had the Caribbean big hitter hole out for 38 off 22 in the 17th over and then added Rahul Tewatia for good measure, even as Shahrukh brought up a 22-ball half-century in between. A brilliant seven-run over from Shahbaz Ahmed to follow, including Arshad Khan's wicket, further tightened the scews on the Titans, and Shahrukh's return to the dugout with 39 required off 8 sealed the deal in LSG's favour.