Marsh blitz earns Lucknow big win and dents Chennai IPL playoff hopes

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LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Mitchell Marsh deflated Chennai Super Kings with a blazing knock of 90 off 38 balls as the playoff chasers were blown away by Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League on Friday.

Nicholas Pooran finished off Chennai with four consecutive sixes against Anshul Kamboj for Lucknow to cruise to 188-3 and a win by seven wickets with more than three overs to spare.

Chennai put up 187-5 in what appeared to be an over-par total. Kartik Sharma hit 71 off 42 balls and impact player Shivam Dube enjoyed a 16-ball unbeaten 32.

Chennai missed a chance to move into the top four playoff positions and slipped to sixth in the table. Lucknow was already out of the playoffs reckoning but entertained its home crowd with a fourth win from 12 games.

“Getting a win definitely feels good,” Lucknow captain Rishabh Pant said. “The things we talk about, of having a lot to play for, regardless of how the season ends, we take a lot of pride (in playing like this).”

Marsh teed off in the powerplay when he smashed Kamboj for four consecutive sixes and a boundary in a 28-run over. The fast bowler eventually finished with expensive figures of 0-63 off 2.4 overs.

Marsh’s blitz featured seven sixes and nine boundaries. Backed up by Josh Inglis (36), they put Lucknow within reach of victory with their quickfire 135-run opening stand.

“We have stuck together as a team and its nice to get a reward tonight,” Marsh said. “Feels like he (Inglis) takes the pressure off me. We have grown up together playing for Western Australia, we know each other well. and it was a good partnership tonight.”

Both perished off successive deliveries in the 12th over. Inglis sliced Mukesh Choudhary to deep point and Choudhary deflected Pooran’s hard drive back onto the non-striker's stumps that caught Marsh out of his crease.

But the pair had done the hard work that Pooran capped in style to wrap up the win.

Earlier, Lucknow fast bowler Akash Singh impressed in his first opportunity of the season with 3-26 in his four unchanged overs with the new ball.

Singh dismissed Chennai captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson and Urvil Patel to have the visitors at 52-3 in the eighth over.

Kartik hit five sixes and six fours and Dube smacked two fours and two sixes off the final four balls of the innings.

“We were looking at 160-170 and got 180. Nothing much better we could have done from a batting point of view,” Gaikwad said. “They (Lucknow) batted well and played some extraordinary shots … sometimes the opposition plays (better) cricket than you and you have to accept it.”

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