Marsh century and Pooran blitz power LSG to 235

Lucknow Super Giants 235 for 2 (Marsh 117, Pooran 56*, Sai Kishore 1-34) vs Gujarat Titans

Mitchell Marsh's 117 off 64 balls powered Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to a mammoth 235 for 2 against Gujarat Titans (GT) on a black-soil pitch in Ahmedabad. He was well-supported by Nicholas Pooran, who smashed an unbeaten 56 off 27, and Aiden Markram, who contributed 36 off 24.

It was a slippery start for GT after they inserted LSG after winning the toss. Arshad Khan slipped twice in his delivery stride in the second over of the innings. Two overs later, the ball seemingly slipped out of Kagiso Rabada's hands. Markram took evasive action but Hawk-Eye deemed it to be a legal delivery. It would have been 2cm below Markram's waist at the batting crease.

In between, Marsh and Markram had a few mis-hits but also found some boundaries. By the end of the powerplay, LSG had reached 53 for no loss.

With two right-handers in the middle, Shubman Gill introduced R Sai Kishore into the attack before Rashid Khan. Marsh hit two sixes off his first eight balls but the spinner did break the stand soon after with Markram's wicket.

Rashid came into the attack in the 12th over. Before this game, Marsh had scored only 31 off 33 balls against him. Tonight, he went 6, 4, 6, 4, 4, 1 in his first over.

Gill took the gamble of giving Sai Kishore an over with Pooran in the middle. It did not come off as Pooran farmed the strike and hit one six and one four in four balls off the spinner.

After a 91-run stand with Markram, Marsh added 121 off just 52 balls along with Pooran. Marsh brought up his hundred off 56 balls - his first in the IPL and second in all T20 cricket.

Marsh fell for 117 but Rishabh Pant gave a glimpse of what-if. He faced just six balls but sent two of them over the boundary line to remain unbeaten on 16.