Lucknow Super Giants beat Chennai Super Kings by 8 wickets at Ekana Cricket Stadium

KL Rahul eclipsed Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni’s key efforts as the Lucknow Super Giants defeated the Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets on Friday at Ekana Cricket Stadium.

When asked to bat first, Ravindra Jadeja scored a steady unbroken 57 before Mooen Ali (30 off 20) and MS Dhoni (28 off 9) went on a six-hitting frenzy to propel CSK to a battling 176 for 6.

CSK stayed with their new starting combo, Ajinkya Rahane and Rachin Ravindra. Ravindra’s struggles didn’t end there, as he went for a golden duck in the second over. LSG seldom let CSK to form a partnership, with Ajinkya Rahane’s 36 off 24 and Moeen Ali’s 30 off 20 being their greatest scores outside of what Jadeja and Dhoni could produce.

In response, Rahul (82) and De Kock (54) played with dominance throughout their match-winning alliance of 134, the greatest partnership for any wicket at the Ekana Stadium, as LSG reached 180 for 2 in 19 overs to comeback from back-to-back defeats and solidify their place in the league. CSK, who entered the match with two victories, suffered their third loss in the IPL.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, CSK captain: “We finished off very well, couldn’t have asked for more. But after powerplay, we couldn’t kick off till 14-15th over. We lost wickets regularly and were 10-15 short. Slightly difficult to bat but with Impact Player rule you need an extra batter. With dew coming on later, felt 180-190 could have been good. That is one area we would like to improve, puts opposition in the back foot if we can get wickets in the powerplay. Good to play them again soon, will come back with homework done.”

Marcus Stoinis: “It was an important win for us. We will meet them in Chennai in couple of days but nice to be back on the winning way. We started well with the ball, taking early wickets. Hats off to the way they finished off, especially MS. Quinny and KL batted well to seal it. Important partnership at the top, allows us to play the rest of the innings and plan the rest of the order as well. We got the confidence in the team. There’s been different boys stepping up. Bowlers bowling well, partnerships with the bat. I’ve said to KL, when do you need me to bowl again.”

KL Rahul, LSG captain and Player of the Match: “Feels good at the end of the day, When you win, looks like you make all the decisions right. Impossible to get all right. Depends on the kind of wicket we are playing on and the kind of batters there are. We spend time doing homework on tactics and strategy and we spoke about them not settling against one style of bowling. We worked really hard at training, good to see the team sticking to that. Halfway stage, I would have happy with 160. Felt the wicket was slow, a bit of grip but not too much. 160-165 would have been ideal. But MSD walks in and the bowlers feel intimidated. He walks in and bowlers were under pressure, the crowd was really loud, he has done it in the past. Felt that if we bat well, we could chase it down. I have been trying to assess the situation and today it came off. With Chennai’s spinners, they tried to put brakes on us. We tried to get to a good start. Tried to take them down, luckily it came off. When your partnership goes on, you can take a few more chances. Glad that it happened. I don’t think the crowd in Chennai will roar for us. I told the boys in huddle to get used to the crowd cheering for CSK because we would get it again in a few days. Looking forward to playing CSK in a couple of days.”

Brief scores:

Chennai Super Kings: 176/6 in 20 overs (Ravindra Jadeja 57 not out, Ajinkya Rahane 36, Moeen Ali 30, MS Dhoni 28 not out; Krunal Pandya 2/16) lose to

Lucknow Super Giants: 180/2 in 19 overs (KL Rahul 82, Quinton de Kock 54) by 8 wickets.