Lucknow, May 15 (IANS) Riding on Mitchell Marsh’s brutal 90 off 38 balls and Nicholas Pooran’s late fireworks, Lucknow Super Giants produced a stunning run chase to thrash Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets at the BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium on Friday.
CSK had posted 187/5, thanks to Kartik Sharma’s career-best score of 71 in T20s and an unbeaten 32 from Shivam Dube. But Marsh and Josh Inglis set the tone right from the start via a 135-run opening stand. Marsh was scintillating in hitting nine fours and seven sixes at an astonishing strike rate of 236.84, before an unfortunate run out stopped him ten runs short of reaching a fantastic century.
After he, Inglis and Abdul Samad fell in quick succession, Pooran produced some emphatic hits to smash 32 off just 17 balls. He slammed one four and four maximums to help LSG reach with 20 balls to spare and dent CSK’s playoffs hopes in a thumping fashion.
Marsh ran after CSK’s bowlers from the get go – hitting three boundaries as Mukesh Choudhary’s opening over went for 15 runs. Inglis too joined in by getting a boundary off Anshul Kamboj and Spencer Johnson. The real carnage began when Marsh smashed Kamboj for four consecutive sixes and a four, as 28 runs came off the fifth over. By the end of the powerplay, LSG were cruising at 86/0.
Marsh reached his fifty in just 21 balls by pulling Johnson for four and continued to dominate by hammering him and Noor Ahmad for towering sixes. Inglis played second fiddle by adding 36 off 32 balls before falling to Mukesh. On the very next ball, Marsh’s dismissal came in unfortunate fashion – run out for 90 after a straight drive from Pooran deflected onto the stumps post a brush off Mukesh’s hand at the non-striker’s end.
By then, Marsh’s brutal knock had already broken CSK’s spirit, though Johnson castled Samad later. Pooran, who had been quiet initially, exploded at the death. After Mukul Choudhary chipped in with handy boundaries, Pooran tore into Kamboj in the 17th over – smashing finish the game in style, as LSG sealed back-to-back home wins.
Kamboj endured a nightmare, conceding 63 runs in 2.4 overs, as CSK’s bowlers looked bereft of ideas once Marsh teed off, and by the time Pooran applied the finishing touches, CSK and their loyal supporters were left shell-shocked. What had seemed a defendable, competitive total at the halfway stage was dismantled with ruthless efficiency by Marsh-powered LSG.
Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings 187/5 in 20 overs (Kartik Sharma 71, Shivam Dube 32 not out; Akash Singh 3-26, Mohammed Shami 1-41) lost to Lucknow Super Giants 188/3 in 16.4 overs (Mitchell Marsh 90, Josh Inglis 36; Mukesh Choudhary 1-24, Spencer Johnson 1-39) by seven wickets
–IANS
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