Mitchell Marsh Mayhem! 38-Ball 90 Powers LSG To Crushing Win Over CSK

Mitchell Marsh produced a breathtaking innings, hammering 90 off just 38 balls , as Lucknow Super Giants chased down 188 with ease to beat Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets in their IPL 2026 clash at Lucknow on Friday. The result, though largely academic for an already-eliminated LSG, dealt a significant blow to Chennai's faltering playoff hopes.

Chasing 188, Marsh and fellow Australian Josh Inglis (36 off 31 balls) set the tone immediately, putting on a blazing 135-run opening partnership that effectively ended the contest inside the first half of the chase. Marsh was especially merciless on pacer Anshul Kamboj , launching him for four consecutive sixes and a four in the fifth over alone an over that yielded 28 runs . Lucknow closed the powerplay at a dominant 86 for no loss.

Marsh, who had reached his fifty off a mere 21 balls, looked set for a second century of the season before falling in the most unfortunate of circumstances when Nicholas Pooran's straight drive deflected off Mukesh Choudhary's fingers onto the stumps at the non-striker's end. Even so, with 24 needed off 24 balls, the asking rate was well within reach. Pooran (32 off 17 balls) ensured there were no nerves, smashing Kamboj for four sixes in a row to seal victory in 16.4 overs. The unlucky Kamboj finished with figures of 2.4–0–63–0 .

Earlier, CSK's innings had been built on shaky foundations before 20-year-old Kartik Sharma rescued them with a composed 71 off 42 balls . Left-arm pacer Akash Singh (3/26) was the chief wrecker, operating at a testing hard length to remove Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Urvil in a disciplined four-over spell, reducing CSK to 52 for three inside 7.2 overs.

Kartik steadied the innings alongside Dewald Brevis (25) , the pair sharing a 70-run fourth-wicket stand. The young right-hander was initially more fluent against spin; he punished Shahbaz Ahmed for several boundaries but soon found his range against the pacers too, hitting Prince Yadav for consecutive sixes. He brought up his half-century in 35 balls by hoisting Mohammed Shami over the boundary, before eventually falling to Ahmed for 71, caught at long on by Aiden Markram. Shivam Dube added a quickfire 32 off 16 balls towards the end to give CSK's innings a healthy finish at 187 for five.

The defeat leaves Chennai Super Kings on 12 points from 12 games , with their playoff qualification now hanging by a thread. They must win both remaining matches and rely on results elsewhere to stand any chance of making it to the knockouts.