Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran delivered commanding performances to guide Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to a morale-boosting 33-run victory over Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday, completing a season double over the 2022 champions.
While LSG’s playoff hopes had already faded, the result was a significant blow to GT’s aspirations of securing a top-two finish in the Indian Premier League 2025.
Marsh was the star of the evening, smashing a 56-ball century — the first by a foreign player this season — in a display of powerful stroke play. Partnering with Nicholas Pooran, who contributed a solid half-century, the duo formed the spine of LSG’s innings after a slow start in the PowerPlay.
Batting first, LSG were restricted to 53 runs in the first six overs by a disciplined GT bowling attack. However, the momentum shifted drastically as Marsh and Pooran began to assert control. Despite GT’s early fielding intensity, injuries to key pacers — including Arshad Khan, Mohammed Siraj, and Kagiso Rabada — disrupted their rhythm and weakened their penetration.
A moment of tactical brilliance from spinner R. Sai Kishore momentarily stemmed the flow when he removed Aiden Markram with a clever change of angle. But the highlight of GT’s bowling struggles came in the 12th over, when Rashid Khan endured a punishing 25-run over, epitomizing the Titans’ loss of control under the lights.
Pooran’s maturity came through in the 15th over, as he twice turned down easy singles to face Sai Kishore himself — eventually rewarding his confidence with a towering six. Marsh’s dismissal in the 19th over came only after the damage was thoroughly done.
GT’s chase began with promise, but early missed opportunities turned costly. B. Sai Sudharsan escaped a leg-before scare in the second over, but fell in the fifth to Will O’Rourke. The Orange Cap holder’s departure opened the floodgates as GT’s middle order, seldom tested during the season, was quickly exposed.
GT’s innings unraveled further when captain Shubman Gill was dismissed by Avesh Khan. Jos Buttler followed soon after, prompting Akash Singh to celebrate with the now-infamous ‘notebook’ gesture, echoing banned spinner Digvesh Rathi’s controversial style.
Despite a spirited stand between Sherfane Rutherford and M. Shahrukh Khan, GT’s hopes faded quickly once O’Rourke dismissed Rutherford, triggering a lower-order collapse.
The victory lifted LSG to sixth in the table, overtaking Kolkata Knight Riders, and offered a silver lining in an otherwise forgettable campaign — driven largely by the brilliance of Marsh and Pooran.
