Jaipur: Mitchell Marsh trumped a pedestrian Rajasthan Royals attack with a brutal 96 as Lucknow Super Giants posted an imposing 220 for 5 in an IPL match here Tuesday.
After Jos Inglis’ 29-ball-60 provided the initial impetus, Marsh, nicknamed as ‘Bison’ in the cricketing universe, displayed ox-like muscularity, smashing 11 fours and five sixes, once again emerging as his team’s batting hero for the umpteenth time during the current season. This is his third score of 90 or more in one season.
In a season full of disappointments for LSG, Marsh’s performance (563 runs in 13 games) has been the only saving grace for Sanjeev Goenka’s men.
Royals, who need to win the last two games to qualify for the play-offs, were below par with the ball, with questions being raised about stand-in skipper Yashasvi Jaiswal’s decision to bowl first on a good batting deck.
The platform was, however, set by Inglis during the Powerplay overs as he hit seven fours and three sixes in an opening stand of 109 in just over eight overs.
In the past few games, Royals bowling attack hasn’t been able to make inroads in the Powerplay overs, something that has affected its performance.
While Inglis attacked Jofra Archer to put a spanner in Royals’ strategy, Marsh did keep up the pace with his powerful hits — especially the pull shots that sailed into the stands.
Once Inglis was dismissed, Marsh took charge as one of his best shots was a six over extra cover — a perfect union of power and timing. Nicholas Pooran (16 off 11) didn’t score many, and Rishabh Pant (35 off 23 balls), despite a 64-run third-wicket stand, never looked convincing. He wasted a lot of deliveries, and it seemed that recent developments in his international career (removed from Test vice captaincy and dropped from ODIs) is bothering him.
The likes of Sushant Mishra (0/46 in 4 overs), Brijesh Sharma (0/44 in 4 overs), Sandeep Sharma (0/43 in 3 overs) erred in lengths against Marsh, even as young leg-spinner Yash Raj Punja (2/35) did trouble the batters.
But in a must-win game, bowlers were a real letdown for Royals, save the 20th over by Jofra Archer (1/39 in 4 overs), where he bowled four dot balls to a rampaging Marsh, who missed his second century of the season by a mere four runs.
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