Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) got their campaign back on track, a little too late, with all top four slots being sealed but nevertheless, Rishabh Pant and Co managed to halt the Gujarat Titans (GT) juggernaut tantalisingly close to the playoffs. It needed a special effort from the visitors to beat a team like the Titans at their own game and LSG nearly followed the hosts' template of top three going big and scoring the lion's share of runs after being put in to bat by Shubman Gill.
Mitchell Marsh, being part of six different franchises, playing for 15 years, finally got his maiden IPL century as his best-ever season got even better. Marsh's 64-ball 117, the best individual score against the Titans in the IPL, supported ably by Aiden Markram at the top, followed by Nicholas Pooran's half-century in double quick time meant that the Titans were chasing a score in excess of 230.
The law of averages finally got the better of the Titans' top three, who for only the second time in the season failed to get one fifty-plus score among them. The top three getting dismissed under 100 provided the Titans' middle-order to showcase their ability, and to their credit, Sherfane Rutherford and Shahrukh Khan at one point had the Titans in front. At 182/3 in 16 overs, Titans would have backed themselves to get the remaining runs with the likes of Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan to come.
However, Will O'Rourke's 17th over probably turned the tide in LSG's favour as the Kiwi quick sent back the set Rutherford and dangerous Tewatia in the same over to break the back of GT's chase. LSG eventually prevailed by 33 runs to win the contest and earn a couple of well-deserved points.
The win helped LSG climb one spot to No 6 on the table with 12 points in their kitty, on level with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). However, since KKR have won just five matches, the defending champions are below the Super Giants on the points table. Lucknow may have a negative NRR but have one more win than KKR since a couple of games were washed out due to rain for Ajinkya Rahane and his men (against Punjab Kings at home and against RCB in Bengaluru).
When two teams have the same number of points, the number of wins is taken into account first and if that is also identical, then NRR comes into the picture.
On the other hand, it was a timely eye-opener for the Gujarat Titans before the playoffs, especially with Jos Buttler set to leave after their final league stage clash against the Chennai Super Kings. GT still can finish in top two but will need help from other teams to ensure that at least one of Royal Challengers Bengaluru or Punjab Kings have fewer points than them.