Rakesh kumar
Playing at the historic M Chidambaram Stadium (Chepauk) in front of their renowned fans for the first time since May 2019, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) put on a memorable performance as they recorded their first win of the season by defeating the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 12 runs.
KL Rahul, captain of the LSG, won the toss and elected to bowl first, with Yash Thakur making his debut in place of Jaydev Unadkat. Despite losing their first contests, MS Dhoni’s CSK fielded the same eleven players.
Ruturaj Gaikwad continued his golden run of form in the tournament by scoring 57 runs off 32 deliveries for his second consecutive fifty. In contrast, Devon Conway scored 47 runs off 29 balls as the pair posted 110 runs in the opening partnership.
Ravi Bishnoi altered the game and halted CSK’s attack by taking three wickets in the middle order, while prominent overseas players Mooen Ali and Ben Stokes were rendered ineffective. Ambati Rayudu scored 27 runs in 14 deliveries while remaining unblemished at the crease.
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MS Dhoni, however, stole the show by smashing two consecutive sixes off Mark Wood’s bowling in the 20th over of CSK’s innings to help the team end with 217 runs.
Kyle Mayers threatened to steal the game away from CSK by scoring 53 off 22 balls against the Delhi Capitals. The Windies opener was the first of Mooen Ali’s four dismissals, which altered the game’s trajectory. Moeen dismissed captain Rahul for 18 out of 20 and also took out Krunal Pandy and Marcus Stoinis. Moeen concluded his four-over spell with figures of four wickets for 26 runs.
Nicholas Pooran gave LSG hope of a late recovery with 32 runs off 18 balls, but it was too little, too late as CSK celebrated a successful homecoming.
