Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) defeated Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by six wickets in a thrilling contest at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.
Chasing the massive target of 211, Lucknow needed a positive start, and opener Quinton de Kock along with captain KL Rahul did precisely that. The duo took their side to a flyer, smashing CSK bowlers from the word go. The pair added 55 runs in the powerplay, keeping their intentions loud and clear.
Both Rahul and De Kock continued the assault after the powerplay and took the team’s total to 98 runs in 10 overs, with the Proteas star hitting a remarkable half-century.
However, in the very next over, CSK’s latest recruit Dwaine Pretorius provided the first breakthrough after dismissing Rahul for a well-made 40 from 26 deliveries. Soon, LSG lost another wicket in the form of Manish Pandey (5) to get reduced to 106/2 in 11.2 overs.
De Kock kept on scoring runs from the other end, but the scoreboard pressure forced him to play glory shots one after another, and in that process, the explosive opener lost his wicket for 61 off 45 balls with the help of nine boundaries.
Evin Lewis kept the hopes alive for Lucknow and took the game deep to make a thriller. He, along with Ayush Badoni, brought back Lucknow into the game by collecting 25 runs in the penultimate over to bring down the equation to nine runs in the last six balls.
Badoni hit the winnings runs in the final over as Lucknow chased down the massive target with six wickets in hand and three balls to spare. Lewis stayed unbeaten on 55 off 23 balls while Badoni remained not out on 19 off 9 deliveries.
Earlier, Robin Uthappa and Shivam Dube starred with the willow as the Super Kings completely dominated the proceedings after LSG asked them to bat first. Uthappa, who came to open the innings, took LSG bowlers to the cleaners.
Robbie smashed eight fours and a six en route to his 27-ball 50 before Ravi Bishnoi ended his blistering innings. Apart from the Karnataka-based cricketer, all-rounder Dube also punished LSG bowlers all around the ground.
The left-handed batter scored 49 off 30 balls, with the help of seven boundaries, including two maximums. Former skipper MS Dhoni provided the late blitz with his 6-ball 16 run knock to help CSK post a humungous 210/7 on the board in their allotted 20 overs.
For Lucknow, Bishnoi returned with impressive figures. The leg-spinner picked up a couple of wickets for just 24 runs in his quota of 4 overs. Pacer Avesh Khan also bagged two scalps but ended up conceding 38 runs in 4 overs.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
Fantastic chase by Lucknow. They were down and out but Evin Lewis played a gem.
Chennai missed a trick in leaving the last two overs for the inexperienced bowlers. #CSKvsLSG pic.twitter.com/xdSQvI0o0W— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) March 31, 2022
Lewis and #Badoni! What a pair for high pressure situation. #LSGvCSK #LSGvCSK #CSKvLSG #CricketTwitter congratulations @LucknowIPL for the first win in #IPL2022
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) March 31, 2022
First time Csk losing first two games in the ipl history. Lucknow was outstanding in the chase. #CSKvLSG
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) March 31, 2022
This IPL is full of roller coster rides. What a sensational run chase by #LSG cracker of a game 🤩 #CSKvLSG #IPL2022
— Vinay Kumar R (@Vinay_Kumar_R) March 31, 2022
Lucknow seeing Shivam Dube bowl the 19th. pic.twitter.com/Al0IN1ftKT
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 31, 2022
Whoaaaaa…this kid Badoni. AB Baby. Ufff…nerves of steel. Evin Lewis. Lucknow Super Giants. Take a bow 🙇 #IPL2022 #LSGvCSK
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) March 31, 2022
Badoni 👏🏼
— Sam Billings (@sambillings) March 31, 2022
Imagine it from Badoni’s pov. You walk out with 40 needed off 16, facing IPL’s leading wkt taker, behind the stumps you see one of the greatest finishers, you look at the area you’re targetting, world’s best fielder is there. And then you impress them all! #CSKvLSG #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/45Mttt8m8z
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) March 31, 2022
Badoni! Wow, such composure. What a find. Such a slim, little young man hitting it far….
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 31, 2022
Brilliant innings from Evin Lewis as a finisher.
The overlap between the skills needed as an attacking opener and a finisher – starting quickly and hitting pace bowlers over the top – and the oversupply of T20 openers means that openers converting to finishers could be a trend
— Tim Wigmore (@timwig) March 31, 2022
💔
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) March 31, 2022
Highest targets successfully chased down in IPL
224 RR vs PBKS Sharjah 2020
219 MI vs CSK Delhi 2021
215 RR vs Deccan Hyderabad 2008.
211 LSG vs CSK Mumbai BS 2022 *
LIVE COMMS:
https://t.co/1ZmKV3ccsa
#LSGvCSK #IPL2022— 🏏Flashscore Cricket Commentators (@FlashCric) March 31, 2022
Lucknow Super Giants opens their account in IPL 2022. #LSGvCSK
Scorecard: https://t.co/jprssN5oqX pic.twitter.com/pnnzrAiW3b— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) March 31, 2022
Incredible win for the @LucknowIPL they get their first points in style. Well played. #LSGvsCSK
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) March 31, 2022
The class of @klrahul11 on display! What a duo this, lethal🔥 @QuinnyDeKock69#IPL2022 #LSGvCSK
— Reema Malhotra (@ReemaMalhotra8) March 31, 2022
𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗚. 𝗦𝗧𝗬𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗛. 𝗦𝗨𝗕𝗟𝗜𝗠𝗘. 🙌
Have we described #QDK‘s fiery 5️⃣0️⃣ correctly? 😋
Drop a 🔥 if you agree!#LSGvCSK #TATAIPL #IPL2022 #YehAbNormalHai pic.twitter.com/19pG6gMZf6
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 31, 2022
Dhoni finish nahi, finisher hai. Not out again, picture aabhi bahut baaki hai. @msdhoni
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) March 31, 2022
KL Rahul-Quinton de Kock one of the best opening pairings in #IPL2022! #CSKvLSG
— Subhayan Chakraborty (@CricSubhayan) March 31, 2022
Ravi Bishnoi has bowled a brilliant spell here!
Figures of 4-0-24-2 on a track like this! Dismissed two well-set batters like Robin Uthappa and Ambati Rayudu. Terrific performance under pressure.#LSGvCSK | #IPL2022
— Prasenjit Dey (@CricPrasen) March 31, 2022
Indians with the best strike-rate in the powerplay in IPL since 2021 (min 75 balls faced)
Prithvi Shaw – 169.86
Robin Uthappa – 161.33
Yashasvi Jaiswal – 145.19
Virat Kohli – 131.77#IPL2022 #CSKvsLSG #RobinUthappa— Rohit Sankar (@imRohit_SN) March 31, 2022
Evin Lewis is the hero for Lucknow, he was unsold then in last round LSG picked him as backup opener with base price then asked to bat at 4 and scored 55* runs from just 23 balls including 6 fours and 3 sixes. What a knock, Lewis. pic.twitter.com/4jK27cs4Nj
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 31, 2022
Literally every spectator present stood up took their phone out recorded MS Dhoni’s grand entry and they all loudly cheered. The maestro doesn’t disappoint them as he smashes the first ball for a SIX.#CSKvLSG
— Prajakta (@18prajakta) March 31, 2022