Opener Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran struck half-centuries as the Lucknow Super Giants beat the Gujarat Titans by six wickets for their third straight win in the IPL.
Chasing 181 for victory on a sluggish pitch, Markram shared partnerships of 65 with fellow-opener Rishabh Pant and 58 with the left-handed Pooran as Lucknow achieved the target with three balls to spare at their home in Ekana Stadium.
Markram hit 58 off 31 balls and Pooran smashed 61 off 34 to end Gujarat’s winning streak of four matches in this edition of the T20 tournament.
Gujarat dropped a place down from the top of the 10-team table with Lucknow behind in third with four wins from six matches.
The West Indies’ Pooran struck his fourth half-ton to go past Gujarat opener Sai Sudharsan as the leading batsman with 349 runs; Sudharsan has 329.
South Africa’s Markram set the platform for the chase as he stepped up in the absence of his in-form opening partner Mitchell Marsh, who missed the match due to the illness of his daughter.
Captain Pant opened the batting with Markram but failed to strike form despite an early reprieve when Gujarat wicketkeeper Jos Buttler dropped a catch down the leg side.
The left-handed Pant hit four boundaries before he lofted fast bowler Prasidh Krishna to deep third man, falling for 21 from 18 balls.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Pant is still waiting to justify his record auction price of $3.21-million as he has only managed 40 runs in five innings.
Markram stood strong to raise his second fifty at the venue and hit back with Pooran as the two smashed regular boundaries.
Krishna dismissed Markram but there was no stopping Pooran who hammered his fifty in 23 balls.
Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan finally sent back Pooran caught at long-on but the batsman had done the damage with one four and seven sixes in his 34-ball knock.
Spinner Washington Sundar bowled David Miller for seven to keep Gujarat in the hunt for a miracle when they went into the final over needing to defend six.
Impact substitute Ayush Badoni hit an unbeaten 28 and sealed the win with a four and six.
The Lucknow bowlers set up victory when they restricted Gujarat to 180-6 after the hosts elected to field first.
Sudharsan, who made 56, and skipper Shubman Gill, who hit 60, put on 120 runs for the opening wicket but the rest of the batting faltered.
Gujarat lost wickets regularly and lost their way against a disciplined Lucknow attack.
Medium-pacer Shardul Thakur and leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi took two wickets each as they choked Gujarat in the middle overs.
© Agence France-Presse
Photo: Surjeet Yadav/MB Media/Getty Images
