Marauding Mitchell Marsh dents CSK's playoff chances

In a nutshell

Chennai Super Kings struggled in testing conditions in the Powerplay. But they recovered to post 187 - a score that looked very competitive. But not many runs suffice on a day Mitchell Marsh takes every bowler in sight to the cleaners and that is exactly what transpired, as Lucknow Super Giants rode on the Australian's 38-ball 90 to land a massive blow to CSK's qualification hopes. The hosts picked up their second win at home for the season, acing the chase by 7 wickets.

Match in phases

Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings 187/5 in 20 overs [Kartik Sharma 71 (42), Shivam Dube 32* (16), Dewald Brevis 25 (16); Akash Singh 3-26] lost to Lucknow Super Giants 188/3 in 16.4 overs [Mitchell Marsh 90 (38), Nicholas Pooran 32* (17); Mukesh Choudhary 1-24] by 7 wickets

Who won LSG the match?

In two words - Mitchell Marsh. He was in a marauding mood, ransacking a half-century in the Powerplay off 21 balls as LSG overpowered CSK's 37/2 in that phase with 86/0. More on the knock later.

Early wickets and paper celebrations

What's an LSG game without a player bringing out a piece of paper from his pocket anyway? Raghu Sharma and Urvil Patel did it against them, but it was Akash Singh's turn to return the favour in his first game of the season. Sanju Samson began with three boundaries in the opening over, but left-arm seamer Akash hit the good and back-of-a-length mark regularly, keeping things tight.

The ball seamed and swung well into the Powerplay and Akash had Ruturaj Gaikwad hacking one to mid-on. Samson struggled after the opening over before helping one on leg stump to deep square leg. On both instances, Akash unveiled a note from his pocket which suggested that he knew how to take wickets. After tying CSK to 37/2 in the Powerplay, he proved his point with the wicket of Urvil, who hammered a short ball to deep mid-wicket as Akash bowled his four overs at a stretch.

Kartik-Brevis lead CSK's recovery

Walking in at 5, Dewald Brevis slashed his first ball for a six over point. The pace of Mayank Yadav - who consistently clocked speeds in excess of 145 kph - proved tough to negate for the batters, but the plan was clear - target the fifth bowler. Shahbaz Ahmed came on and Kartik heaved him over mid-wicket in his first over, before Brevis unleashed the no-look six in his second. A solid partnership developed even as the wicket started to ease out, with Kartik showing his range against the pacers too, cashing in on anything in his wheelhouse. He put away Prince Yadav's short balls for two sixes, the first of which took CSK past 100 in the 13th over, before he launched Mohammed Shami over wide long off to raise his second fifty of the season.

A lull, before Dube goes big

Brevis was bounced out by Shami, top-edging a pull to Akash at short fine leg, bringing a 70-run stand to a close. But Kartik was in no mood to slow down, pouncing on Shahbaz's last over for a six and two fours before attempting one shot too many and finding long on. With four overs to go, Shivam Dube and Prashant Veer joined forces but struggled to middle the ball as Prince and Mayank rushed them for pace. LSG wrestled some momentum back even as Shami went for two boundaries in the 19th over. But Prince missed his mark with the short ball and the yorker in the final over with LSG also forced to bring a fielder up for slow over-rate. Dube went 6-4-4-6 to power CSK to 187, before he was subbed out of the defense.

A Mitch Marsh show at Ekana - again

Returning to the venue where he scored a hundred against RCB last week, Marsh had to deal with slightly tougher conditions with the new ball seaming and swinging. But Mukesh Choudhary offered too many friendly deliveries on leg stump which were put away in a 15-run opening over. Spencer Johnson, playing his first match after a 13-month period on the sidelines, clocked 140+ on a regular basis but operated without luck as he induced multiple false shots off the batters. Josh Inglis was scratchy, but both batters were intent on putting pressure early in the over - the first ball of overs 3, 4, 5 and 6 all produced a four or a six.

Nobody bore the wrath of Marsh's power more than Anshul Kamboj, who kept dishing it short in the fifth over and kept traveling as Marsh plundered 28 runs off it, including four sixes off the first four balls. Johnson too went for 19 in the last over of that phase with Marsh happily unleashing the swivel-pull to raise a half-century. It wasn't just about the pull though as earlier in the innings, he backed away and smashed the ball through the off-side as well to showcase his complete range. For the second time in as many games, CSK looked listless against LSG in the Powerplay. Except this time, there was no Jamie Overton to save the day.

So how did the middle-overs pan out?

The runs kept coming for Marsh, but Inglis remained scratchy. Such was the damage inflicted in the Powerplay though that LSG raced past 100 in the 8th over. Gurjapneet Singh failed to make a mark of his own and the only bowler to offer some kind of control was Noor Ahmad, whom LSG wisely chose to play out. Choudhary eventually broke the opening stand of 135 in the 12th over as Inglis slashed a slower short ball to sweeper cover. The next ball saw Marsh meet cruel fate as Pooran struck one back before Choudhary got his fingertips to it, with the ball dislodging the bails at the other end. Few would argue that it was perhaps the only way he was getting dismissed on the night considering the menacing mood he was in. Noor kept things quiet to give CSK a semblance of hope for a comeback, but it was just wishful hope.

Pooran seals it with 6, 6, 6, 6

LSG did slow down with Abdul Samad cleaned up by Johnson. An inside edge gave Mukul Choudhary a fortuitous boundary but the asking rate was always in control. Neither Aiden Markram nor Rishabh Pant batted, but Pooran took four deliveries to get the job done after the second timeout. The equation read 24 off 24 as Kamboj was reintroduced and for the second time in the evening, he missed his mark and erred too full for a change. Four sixes off four balls, and the chase was dusted.

Where do the teams go next?

CSK go back to Chepauk for their final home game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday (May 18). LSG play the following day (May 19) in Jaipur as Rajasthan Royals await.