Lucknow: Mitchell Marsh’s blistering 90 off 38 balls and Akash Singh’s three-wicket spell propelled Lucknow Super Giants to a dominant seven-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings at the BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Chennai posted 187 for 5, boosted by Kartik Sharma’s career-best T20 knock of 71 and an unbeaten 32 from Shivam Dube, after Akash (3-26) uprooted the top order on a testing red-soil track. But Marsh and Josh Inglis put the chase beyond doubt with a 135-run opening stand.
Marsh tore into the CSK attack, striking nine fours and seven sixes at a strike rate of 236.84 before being run out for 90 — ten runs short of a century — in unfortunate fashion when a straight drive from Nicholas Pooran deflected onto the stumps. Inglis contributed 36 from 32 balls as Lucknow reached 188 for 3 in 16.4 overs.
After the openers and Abdul Samad fell in quick succession, Pooran finished emphatically with 32 off 17 balls, including four sixes, to wrap up the chase with 20 balls to spare and dent CSK’s playoff hopes.
Marsh set the tone from the first over, punishing Mukesh Choudhary as Lucknow raced to 86 without loss at the end of the powerplay. He reached his fifty in 21 balls and continued to dominate, plundering boundaries off Spencer Johnson and Noor Ahmad. Kamboj endured a brutal 17th over for Chennai, conceding 28 when Marsh struck four consecutive sixes and a four; his overall figures read 0-63 in 2.4 overs.
Chennai’s innings had recovered after early wickets, with Brevis and Kartik rebuilding with a 70-run stand. Kartik accelerated to 71 off 42 balls, hitting six fours and five sixes, while Dube’s late hitting — 32 not out off 16 — helped CSK post a defendable total by adding 60 in the final five overs.
CSK had started briskly, but Akash removed Ruturaj Gaikwad and other top-order batters to expose the middle order. Mohammed Shami returned figures of 1-41 for Lucknow, while Shahbaz Ahmed and Prince Yadav leaked boundaries in the middle overs.
Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings 187/5 (Kartik Sharma 71, Shivam Dube 32*; 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.
(Inputs from IANS)