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Marsh, Markram help Lucknow edge Mumbai in IPL / Photo: © AFP
Marsh, Markram help Lucknow edge Mumbai in IPL
Openers Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram hit half-centuries to set up a tense 12-run victory for Lucknow Super Giants against IPL heavyweights Mumbai Indians on Friday.
Five-time champions Mumbai suffered an early blow when former skipper Rohit Sharma missed the match due to an injury to his knee during training.
Mumbai skipper Hardik Pandya claimed his maiden T20 five-wicket haul and then hit an unbeaten 28 off 16 balls but the effort went in vain as his team slipped to their third defeat in four matches.
Lucknow posted 203-8 as Marsh, who hit 60, and Markram, who made 53, put on 76 runs for the opening wicket after being invited to bat first at their home ground.
Bowlers combined to restrict Mumbai to 191-5 despite Suryakumar Yadav's 43-ball 67 and Pandya's late blitz as Lucknow bounced back from a loss for their second win in four matches.
Mumbai needed 29 off the last 12 balls when Shardul Thakur gave away just seven runs in the 19th over and fellow quick Avesh Khan kept his calm after being hit for a six on the first ball of the last over.
Mumbai's impact substitute Tilak Varma made 25 off 23 balls before he retired out in the penultimate over.
Australia Marsh set up victory with an attacking 31-ball knock that set the tone for the hosts' domination as he smashed nine fours and two sixes.
Marsh, who is playing in this IPL only as a batsman and registered his third half-century of this season, finally fell caught and bowled to rookie left-arm wrist spinner Vignesh Puthur.
West Indies left-hander Nicholas Pooran departed after his quick 12 as Pandya got his first and soon dismissed skipper Rishabh Pant for two.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Pant, who broke an IPL auction record when he went to Lucknow for a whopping $3.21 million, has flopped with the bat with scores of 0, 15 and two in the earlier matches.
Markram stood firm and put together 51 runs with Ayush Badoni, who hit 30, to pull Lucknow through the middle phase before fellow South African David Miller joined the charge.
Pandya kept up his bowling form as he sent back Markram but the left-handed Miller hit 27 off 14 balls to boost the total.
Pandya took two successive wickets in the 20th over but a hat-trick was avoided after a wide ball and he finished with figures of 5-36 -- a first five-wicket haul for an IPL captain.
O. Henrique--JDB
