Lucknow Super Giants Rishabh Pant drives Ravindra Jadeja of Chennai Super Kings during IPL match at Ekana stadium, in Lucknow on April 14, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Sandeep Saxena
It was as if, after many tugs at its starter cord, a motor had finally roared into life, the way Chennai Super Kings bowled, fielded, and batted to beat Lucknow Super Giants by five wickets in the IPL at the Ekana Stadium here on Monday. CSK had seemed a spent campfire coming into the match.
Its fans had begun exhibiting signs of a hard life. So, when Rahul Tripathi took a brilliant running catch to dismiss LSG opener Aiden Markram off Khaleel Ahmed, it seemed he had clutched at a lifeline rather. It was as if CSK had shaken itself awake. The players were astir. The supporters, who’d filled the stands, were bucked up.
CSK followed it up with Nicholas Pooran’s early dismissal. Dhoni the captain played a hand in it.
After a six and a four in the fourth over, he’d packed the off-side with six fielders — behind and in front of square — for Pooran to try and play the ball on the leg side and miss it. Anshul Kamboj got him, leg-before, on review.
Opener Mitchell Marsh (30), who was threatening to get out of hand with two fours and two sixes, pulled and missed a ball that wasn’t short enough and skidded in, to be bowled off Ravindra Jadeja.
Captain Rishabh Pant’s 49-ball 63 (4×4, 4×6) helped LSG to a competitive total from there.
With the bat, when its openers Shaik Rasheed (27) and Rachin Ravindra (37) racked up 52 off 29 balls, it seemed as if CSK had its scheme of life worked out to a fine point. But soon it imploded to a point where Shivam Dube (43 n.o.) and Dhoni (26 n.o.) were faced with an equation of 56 off 30 balls.
Dhoni, who edged a couple of streaky fours, hit a one-handed six off Shardul Thakur to the square-leg boundary and sparked life into the chase.
Dube muscled a full toss off a no-ball over third man for a six off Shardul too. Dhoni was dropped by Ravi Bishnoi at cover off Shardul on 20 when CSK required 12 off 10. He hit a full toss for a four to deep midwicket off the last ball of that over, to bring down the equation to five off the last over.
The visiting side did that with three balls to spare and ended its five-match losing streak.
Brief scores:
Lucknow Super Giants: 166/7 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 63; Ravindra Jadeja 2/24).
Chennai Super Kings: 168/5 in 19.3 overs (Rachin Ravindra 37, MS Dhoni 26 not out, Shivam Dube 43 not out; Ravi Bishnoi 2/18)
Published – April 14, 2025 08:04 pm IST
