Lucknow, Apr 12: Half-centuries by Nicholas Pooran (61) and Aiden Markram (58) propelled Lucknow Super Giants to a six-wicket victory, with three balls to spare, over the table toppers Gujarat Titans at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium here on Saturday.

After Gujarat Titans reached 180/6 in the first innings, powered by half-centuries by openers Shubman Gill’s 60 and Sai Sudharsan’s fourth half-century of the tournament, Markram walked out to bat with an unlikely opening partner in Rishabh Pant (21), with Mitchell Marsh not in the matchday squad due to personal reasons.

Pant, who has struggled through the course of the season, stayed on the backfoot as Markram took the fight to the GT bowlers in the opening exchanges. Mohammed Siraj was taken to the cleaners as they racked up 20 runs in the third over.

The duo were comfortably navigating as they reached 60 runs in the power-play before Pant was caught at deep third man off Prasidh Krishna, bringing to an end his innings. However, Lucknow remained in a comfortable position as Pooran, who reclaimed his Orange Cap from Sudharsan, continued the carnage he had put on display this season.

He started his blistering knock by sending the ball straight down the ground off Rashid Khan, before the bowler put down a difficult catch off Pooran, two deliveries later. He then smashed a similar six off Washington Sundar in the next over.

Gill decided to deploy his most trusted spinner this season in Sai Kishore in the next over, but was met with the same fate. Pooran smashed three sixes in the 10th over, with Markram adding a boundary, as they accumulated 24 runs off Kishore. Markram reached his second half-century of the season in 26 deliveries before falling to Prasidh Krishna.

Pooran, however, continued his hitting spree as he struck a six and a four off Siraj in the next over and went on to raise his fourth fifty of the tournament in 23 deliveries.

Pooran’s innings, laced with one boundary and seven sixes, finally came to an end through Rashid Khan, who was just his fourth wicket in the ongoing edition. With only 24 runs needed to chase down, off as many balls, Ayush Badoni (28*) and David Miller (7) almost took the side over the line, but the latter was castled over by Sundar in the penultimate over.

With six runs needed off the final over, Abdul Samad gave Badoni the strike off the first delivery and he obliged by hitting a four and a six to seal the victory off Sai Kishore as LSG reached 186/4 in 19.3 overs.

In the first innings, Shubman Gill and Sudharsan registered respective fifties, as the duo put up an opening stand of 120 runs to lay the foundation for a big total.

Gill went on to raise his 22nd IPL fifty in 31 deliveries as they reached the 100-run opening stand in 58 deliveries. Sudharsan, on the other hand, reached his fourth half-century of the tournament in 32 deliveries,

Just when it seemed the duo was ready to accelerate, a fuller delivery by Avesh Khan led to the dismissal of Gill. Ravi Bishnoi further pulled things back in his side’s favour by striking twice in the very next over, removing both Sudharsan and Sundar to apply brakes on the run rate.

What once seemed to be a sure shot 200+ score for Gujarat was drastically reduced as the LSG bowlers did well to restrict the new batters on the crease.

Shardul dismissed Sherfane Rutherford and Rahul Tewatia off consecutive deliveries in the final over to restrict GT to 180/6

Brief scores:

Gujarat Titans 180/6 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 60, Sai Sudharsan 53, Sherfane Rutherford 22; Shardul Thakur 2-34, Ravi Bishnoi 2-36) lost to Lucknow Super Giants 186/4 in 19.3 overs (Nicholas Pooran 61, Aiden Markram 58, Ayush Badoni 28*; Prasidh Krishna 2-26, Washington Sundar 1-28) by six wickets

--IANS

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