Marsh, Markram fifties set SRH 206 in must-win game for LSG

The big three of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) came to the party once again, with Nicholas Pooran scoring 45 off 26 balls on the back of half-centuries from openers Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram. On a pitch that became trickier to bat on as the ball became older, however, the rest of the line-up didn't offer too much: having scored 108 for no loss in the first 10 overs, LSG only managed 97 for 7 in the back half, as Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) bowlers pulled them back with their changes of pace.

Eshan Malinga was SRH's most successful bowler with 2 for 28, picking up the wickets of Rishabh Pant, who fell for another low score after promoting himself to No. 3 as he chipped a slower ball back to the diving bowler, and Ayush Badoni.

With Malinga, Pat Cummins and Harshal Patel finding plenty of grip with the slower ball, SRH, at one stage, looked set to limit LSG to below 200. But Nitish Kumar Reddy, who bowled for the first time in IPL 2025, conceded 20 runs in an eventful final over that also brought three wickets - including two run-outs - with Pooran hitting his first six off the 25th ball of his innings, and Akash Deep finishing off with a first-ball six off the last ball of the innings.

LSG ended up with a total well short of what they may have envisioned when Marsh and Markram were hitting the ball to all parts in an opening stand of 115 in 10.3 overs. Both brought up 28-ball half-centuries, hitting four sixes each in power-packed displays at the top of the order.

Marsh's dismissal in the 11th over - it was debutant left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey's first wicket in the IPL - began LSG's slowdown; even Pooran struggled to get to grips with the pace of the pitch initially, scoring just 28 runs off his first 20 balls, before finishing with a flourish.