Shivam Dube, Robin Uthappa, and Moeen Ali’s innings, which took CSK to 210, were all in vain.
It was a contest of the experienced stalwarts against the newbies, as the Chennai Super Kings took on new franchise Lucknow Super Giants, in a high-scoring contest at the Brabourne Stadium in the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai. B
Both teams were coming off losses in their opening games, against the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Gujarat Titans, respectively. Chennai’s batting, which was what disappointed them in the first game, was in excellent form today, as the four-time champions scored a mammoth 210 in the first innings. However, the lack of a designated death bowler cost the Yellow Army as LSG were able to chase down the total, with Quinton de Kock and Windies batsman Evin Lewis both getting crucial half centuries.
Lucknow skipper KL Rahul won the toss and decided to put the Super Kings into bat, a popular choice considering that the dew plays a major role towards the end of the game. Lucknow got off to a brilliant start with superstar Ruturaj Gaikwad suffering another failure with the bat, as he was dismissed courtesy of an excellent run-out by Ravi Bishnoi, an effort that highlighted the leggie’s presence of mind.
However, that was the only bright spot for a long time for Lucknow, as veterans Robin Uthappa and Moeen Ali played extremely well as the scorecard galloped ahead. Uthappa got a scintillating 26-ball 50, which included eight boundaries and a solitary maximum, before he was sent back to the pavilion by Ravi Bishnoi, getting trapped in front of the stumps.
Ali, who was batting really well, was undone by an excellent bowling change by Rahul, who decided to bring on Avesh Khan in the eleventh over, as the pacer made a mess of the Englishman’s woodwork, sending him back for a well-made 35.
Ambati Rayudu and Shivam Dube then took it upon themselves to get Chennai a huge score, and in fact, they did end up getting Chennai to a substantial score. Dube scored a 30-ball 49, before MS Dhoni came in towards the end and smashed a six-ball 16, taking CSK to a massive score of 211.
Tasked with an almost impossible task, the Giants were off to a great start as de Kock smashed the bowlers around, taking complete advantage of the match. The duo started off slow, before both of them took off in the fourth office. The South African was has been quite superb with the sweep shot, and it appears that his dream opening partnership with Rahul are getting along together well, as the duo played expansive shots the moment they got their eye in.
Rahul and de Kock were making life difficult for the bowlers, as they appeared to be extremely in control of proceedings before Rahul top edged a pull straight to short fine leg, while de Kock controlled the game, slowly making systematic dents on the scorecard before he was also dismissed by fellow South African Dwaine Pretorious early on the innings.
Manish Pandey also could not stick around for too much time as he was dismissed by Tushar Deshpande. Deepak Hooda struck a few lusty blows before becoming Dwayne Bravo’s historic 171st scalp in the tournament as he went past the great Lasith Malinga, who was also on 170. Nevertheless, it was Lewis who did most of the damage, starting off well with a couple of well-timed boundaries.
The asking rate was climbing for the Super Giants, reaching a stage where 34 runs were required off the last two overs. A situation where Dhoni’s wisdom was probably, CSK decided to hand over the ball to Shivam Dube, who conceded 25 runs in the penultimate over, to turn the match on his head. Rookie Ayush Badoni also played a good supporting hand, as he finished off the game in the last over to give Lucknow a victory.
Brief scores
Lucknow Super Giants 211 for 4 (de Kock 61, Lewis 55*, Rahul 40, Pretorius 2-31) beat Chennai Super Kings 210 for 7 (Uthappa 50, Dube 49, Bishnoi 2-24) by six wickets
