Chennai and Lucknow locked horns at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in the seventh match of the Indian T20 League. The latter won the toss and elected to bowl first, given the trend in the tournament. The Men in Yellow opener Robin Uthappa provided an explosive start to the team.
Such was his dominance that his opening partner Ruturaj Gaikwad was batting at 1 and the former was batting at 20, including three fours and a six. Gaikwad was run out on the same score courtesy of a direct hit by Ravi Bishnoi. On the other hand, Uthappa went on to score a 27-ball fifty, including eight fours and a six before he was accounted for by Ravi Bishnoi.
These innings set the tone for the team as other batters wreaked havoc on the Lucknow bowlers. Players such as Moeen Ali (35 runs in 22 balls), Shivam Dube (49 off 30), Ambati Rayudu (27 off 20), skipper Ravindra Jadeja (17 off 9), and MS Dhoni (16* off 6) helped the team reach 210/7. This is the joint-highest team total in the ongoing cash-rich league. The bowling department of Lucknow struggled immensely as they conceded more than 9 runs to 12 runs per over, except for Ravi Bishnoi, who bowled at an economy of 6.
In reply, the Men In Mint Green had a great start with KL Rahul (40 off 26) and Quinton de Kock stitching an opening partnership of 99 runs. The former was dismissed by debutant Dwaine Pretorius. Manish Pandey (5) couldn’t last long as he was dismissed by Tushar Deshpande. De Kock (61) was dismissed by his South African teammate Pretoroius, leaving the team struggling at 139/3, needing 72 runs to win in 32 balls.
However, the innings from Evin Lewis (55*) and Ayush Badoni (19*) helped the team chase down the target in 19.3 overs.
This is how Twitter reacted after Lucknow’s win
@ChennaiIPL Needs to come back with better planning..bowling Shivam dubey 19th over wasn’t the best move.. Lot to improve as a bowling unit.. they missing @deepak_chahar9 Badly. jaddu @imjadeja should hv bowled his 4 overs even with due around.. He is a champion bowler
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) March 31, 2022
Congratulations to @LucknowIPL for winning a nail biting match against @ChennaiIPL . Both the teams really played well. Got to watch good game of cricket @IPL #TATAIPL
— Rajeev Shukla (@ShuklaRajiv) March 31, 2022
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
First time Csk losing first two games in the ipl history. Lucknow was outstanding in the chase. #CSKvLSG
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) March 31, 2022
Incredible win for the @LucknowIPL they get their first points in style. Well played. #LSGvsCSK
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) March 31, 2022
Today’s showing has raised a HUGE concern in @ChennaiIPL ‘s bowling attack.
Filled with inexperienced youngsters, desperately missing @deepak_chahar9 💔
Shd they have played @AdamMilne19 ?
Will they call for a replacement ?
Lot remains to be seen…#CSKvLSG— Bhavna Balakrishnan (@Bhavna__B) March 31, 2022
No way you give Shivam Dube the penultimate over. #CSKvLSG #IPL2022
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) March 31, 2022
Lucknow seeing Shivam Dube bowl the 19th. pic.twitter.com/Al0IN1ftKT
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 31, 2022
Terrible decisions in bowling changes by #CSK , but what a brilliant performance by @LucknowIPL amazing feat and remember the name #Badoni he's a player to watch out in the future! #LSGvsCSK #CSKvsLSG
— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth) March 31, 2022
CSK's bowling is very weak this season. Too much to do for their batters. First Deepak Chahar got ruled out and then Milne's injury has only made things worse. #LSGvCSK
— Prasenjit Dey (@CricPrasen) March 31, 2022
When #ShivamDube was called to bowl the 19th over, commentators said it was #Dhoni’s strategy.
After Shivam was hit for 25 runs in that over, commentators said “Was this decision by #RavindraJadeja right?†🤷ðŸ»â€â™‚ï¸ðŸ¤·ðŸ»â€â™‚ï¸#CSKvLSG #LSGvsCSK #IPL2022
— AAVISHKAR (@aavishhkar) March 31, 2022
My next #CSK playing XI :-
Ruturaj, Uthappa, Moeen, Rayudu, Jadeja, Dhoni, Dube, Pretorius, Bravo, Tushar, Milne. Pretorius can bowl 140+ (he's a death bowler)and bat as well. Chahar coming in for Tushar will strengthen team perfectly. Two spinners!#WhistlePodu #IPL #LSGvsCSK— Sarthak (@sarthakkpadhii) March 29, 2022
