Mitchell Marsh’s maiden IPL century handed a LSG a consolation win against table toppers Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad. Marsh’s century, Pooran’s fifty and some fine bowling saw Rishabh Pant and Co clinch a 33-run win in the GT vs LSG on Thursday. It was a rare off day for Gujarat Titans top 3, hurting their chances to make the Top 2 in the IPL 2025 playoffs race.
Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran go hunting
Lucknow’s top order has been their saving grace this season and they once again put on a show at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh played out an initially slow phase before going berserk to put the visitors on top. The duo put on a 91-run partnership for the 1st wicket, with Marsh reaching another half-century.
Nicholas Pooran joined forces with Marsh and the duo took Gujarat Titans attack apart. Marsh changed gears with a 25-run over off Rashid Khan, while Pooran took on Sai Kishore. Marsh eventually reached his century of 56 balls, his first ever in IPL. He was eventually dismissed for 117 off just 64 balls. The right-left duo managed to score 121 for the second wicket in just 51 deliveries. Rishabh Pant added a couple of maximums in the end to take LSG to 235 in their 20 overs.
Off-day for GT’s Top 3, Shahrukh shines
Gujarat Titans have built their success on the back of their top 3 this season. LSG however found a way around that, dismissing Sai Sudharsan early. Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler threatened to take the game away after settling in. The hosts had 67/1 after powerplay, well settled on their chase. However, Avesh sent the GT skipper packing. Akash Singh then cleaned up Jos Buttler soon. It marked the first instance that neither of GT’s top 3 scored a fifty.
With the pressure on, Shahrukh Khan and Shefane Rutherford went about their rebuild. Shahrukh was at his counter-attacking best while his West Indian took a while to get going. The duo eventually got the big hits going, bringing down the equation to 90 needed of the last 6.
Shahrukh then reached his second ever IPL fifty but things then went downhill for the hosts. Will O’Rourke got rid of Sherfane Rutherford and Rahul Tewatia in the same over, while Shahbaz Ahmed bowled a tight over dismissing Arshad Khan. Fighting a lone battle, Shahrukh and GT lost steam, ending with a 33-run loss.
The loss meant that Gujarat Titans remain on 18 points with only 1 game left to play. Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru could both leapfrog them into the Top 2. Both their IPL 2025 playoffs rivals have 17 points with 2 games to play.
As for Lucknow, they are already knocked out. Nonetheless, beating the table toppers would a be good confidence for Rishabh Pant and Co who have largely struggled this year.
The post GT vs LSG, IPL 2025: Mitchell Marsh century sinks Gujarat Titans’ Top 2 hopes as LSG bag consolation win appeared first on Inside Sport India.