It was Ravindra Jadeja’s yellow army taking on the new team from Lucknow, led by KL Rahul, in game number 7 of the Tata IPL 2022. The match went to the wire after Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) got a massive target of 211 to chase in the second innings.
Rahul’s men won the game in the penultimate over by 6 wickets with 3 balls to spare. Here’s all that happened when the two super teams met each other in a clash of titans.
Also Read: RCB vs KKR Match Summary With Interesting Moments: IPL 2022 Match 6
Who Won the Toss?
KL Rahul won the toss and chose to bowl first in an outfield that was supposed to get wet with the match’s progress. Unlike their nature, CSK made several changes to their playing eleven in search of the perfect squad.
The yellow brigade brought in Dwayne Pretorius for Adam Milne, Moeen Ali for Devon Conway, and Mukesh Choudhary for Mitchell Santner. On the other hand, LSG made only one change, with Andrew Tye coming in for Mohsin Khan.
CSK vs LSG First Innings Highlights
Put into bat, CSK had a new opening pair in Robin Uthappa and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Pouncing on the opportunity, Uthappa didn’t waste time settling as he smacked the first two balls to the boundary off Avesh Khan. He flicked one off the pads and cover drove the other towards point.
He looked in a different form altogether, with boundaries coming at ease. However, all was not well at the other end, where Gaikwad was struggling to middle the ball. He had only opened his account when an in-swinger from Andrew Tye caught him off guard, and the ball zipped into his pads.
The bowler went to appeal for LBW, but Ravi Bishnoi, stationed at point, showed quick reflexes by aiming the ball at the stumps on the keeper’s end. His direct hit found Gaikwad out of the crease, and he was dismissed for 1.
CSK were 28-1 after 2.3 overs when Moeen Ali walked in to bat at number three. While Moeen was settling in, Uthappa decided to go all out against the LSG bowlers. It was as if he was playing to regain his trademark opening position. The former Indian batter hit Andrew Tye for 4 boundaries in an over.
In the very next over, Moeen Ali joined the party and smacked Krunal Pandya for 16 runs. CSK were 73-1 after 6 overs. Struggling for a breakthrough, Rahul brought his strike leg spinner, Ravi Bishnoi, into the attack, and the youngster didn’t disappoint.
Soon after he reached a 25 ball half-century, Bishnoi trapped Robin Uthappa in front. Though the umpire declined the appeal, the leggie convinced Rahul to opt for the review, which proved successful.
At his departure, CSK were 84-2 in 7.3 overs. Well, CSK seemed prepared to tackle the leg spinner as they promoted Shivam Dubey to number 4, above Ambati Rayudu. The decision turned out to be good as Dubey announced himself with three fours in the ninth over.
Moeen Ali was bowled by Avesh Khan to bring the CSK total to 106-3 at the halfway mark. Chennai needed a partnership to stick the ship together after a fine start from their openers. Who better than Ambati Rayudu to pace the innings?
The duo of Rayudu and Dube added 60 runs in 37 balls to extract their side out of trouble. Their partnership comprised of some handsome sixes by Dube and watchful hitting by Rayudu. For LSG, it was again Ravi Bishnoi who brought the much-needed breakthrough. He clipped Rayudu’s leg stump and dismissed him for 27 (20).
Ravindra Jadeja joined Dube at the crease, but the latter couldn’t survive long as Avesh Khan got him caught at mid-wicket in what turned out to be a mind-blowing catch from Evin Lewis. CSK were 189-5 in 18.2 overs.
The crowd went berserk as MS Dhoni walked out to the center. Had people known the mood he was in, they would have come with firecrackers. Dhoni creamed the first ball he faced over covers for a massive six. The next one too disappeared for a boundary over point.
With Andrew Tye getting his act together in the 20th over, CSK ended with 210-7. Dhoni remained unbeaten at 16 (6).
CSK vs LSG 2nd Innings Highlights
Having given to deal with a huge total, the Lucknow Super Giants needed a brisk start from their openers, KL Rahul and Quinton De Kock. Both are experienced individuals and have been in similar situations on numerous occasions. Instead of going with all guns blazing, they decided to play it safe initially.
LSG were 11-0 after 2 overs, and that was when Rahul decided to unshackle. He creamed Mukesh Choudhary, the debutant, for a six and a boundary in the third over of the innings. The subsequent over saw De Kock joining the party as he thwarted Tushar Deshpande for three fours. Suddenly, LSG had reached 36-0 in 4 overs.
The flow of runs continued in the powerplay until Dwayne Bravo came into the attack in the 6th over. He almost scalped De Kock, but Moeen Ali dropped a sitter at mid-off. Had the catch been taken, CSK would have got an early advantage.
Rahul’s team had put up 55 runs at the end of the powerplay. The best part was that they were yet to lose a wicket. Another chance came knocking on the door of the yellow army when Rahul lofted Moeen Ali over covers, where Deshpande ran behind and dived but couldn’t gather the ball in the end.
When nothing worked for the Chennai Super Kings, the underrated Dwayne Pretorius marked his runup for the 11th over. He bowled a wide short-pitched cum length ball, and Rahul tried to drag it over fine leg in what seemed to be a bizarre shot. The experiment cost him his wicket, with Ambati Rayudu taking a brilliant catch running behind at short fine leg.
Everyone thought CSK were back in the hunt when in the very next over, Manish Pandey found the safe pair of hands of Dwayne Brave at mid-off. Deshpande got his first wicket, and LSG were 106-2 after 11.2 overs.
Evin Lewis joined De Kock in the middle when their team needed a partnership. The Caribbean power-hitter didn’t seem jolted by the fall of two quick wickets as he creamed a six and a couple of fours while De Kock continued rotating the strike.
It was that man again, Dwayne Pretorius, who got rid of a bubbling partnership by dismissing his countrymate, De Kock, for 61 runs. At the end of 15 overs, LSG were 144-3, requiring 67 from 30 balls. Deepak Hooda, LSG’s half centurion from the previous match, joined Lewis in the middle.
The Super Giants had their best batters to score quick runs. Both big-hitters of the cricket ball. Lewis was punishing the bad balls while Hooda was only beginning to find his rhythm when he hit a length ball from Bravo over the sightscreen for a maximum.
However, an ambitious heave of the next ball saw him getting caught at the mid-wicket fence by Ravindra Jadeja. Though it went from the sweet spot of the bat, Hooda targeted the wrong boundary, which was 89 meters long.
Next in was Badoni and the equation was down to 34 from 12. The game was almost done with a thinker and experienced man, MS Dhoni, at the helm of things for CSK. However, they were short of good bowling options and had to choose from Moeen, Choudhary, and Jadeja.
Believe it or not, CSK decided to go with Shivam Dubey for the penultimate 19th over. As it happened, his first ball was smacked by Badoni for a massive six over square leg. He then bowled two wides on the trot. The pressure was visible, but Dube kept his nerves and gave only three of the next two deliveries.
Nevertheless, as soon as Evin Lewis got on the strike, things went way out of hands for CSK. The West Indian bamboozled Dube with 2 fours and a six of the last three balls, leaving only 7 runs for the final over.
Jadeja handed the ball to Choudhary for the 20th over. The debutant bowled two consecutive wides to start the proceedings, and then he was hit for a massive six over square leg. With only one needed, the Super Giants won the game with 3 balls to spare.
It was a tremendous chase from the Lucknow Super Giants, the 4th highest in the history of IPL.
Best Performances for CSK
CSK’s batting was laced with several contributions, but the best of them all came from Robin Uthappa, who scored 50 (27).
The best bowler for them was Dwayne Pretorius. He took two wickets and gave away only 31 runs in four overs.
Best Performances for LSG
Chasing 211, you can never come out on top without a team effort. Right from KL Rahul to Badoni, everyone performed for the Lucknow Super Giants.
Their best batsman, in my opinion, was Evin Lewis, who scored 55 of just 23 balls, hitting 6 fours and 3 sixes. He also became the Man of the Match.
In the bowling department, it was Ravi Bishnoi who stole the show. When everyone else was being smashed around all corners, he gave away only 24 runs and took 2 wickets in his bowling quota.
CSK vs LSG Interesting Moments
Dropped Catches
Both teams dropped several catches that could have changed the fate of the game. While Chameera dropped Dube in the 16th over of the innings, CSK dropped two catches, both of which were of the LSG openers.
Bad Day for Dushmantha Chameera
The Sri Lankan pacer, Dushmantha Chameera, did not have a good day in their encounter against CSK. First, he leaked runs briskly while bowling, and then he was involved in several misfields throughout the match. He even dropped a simple catch of Shivam Dube.
Uthappa Reminding of Sehwag
Opening for CSK, Robin Uthappa smashed the first ball of the match for a boundary, reminding cricket lovers of Virender Sehwag. The latter used to hit the first ball of any match for a boundary and did the same on several occasions.
Dhoni’s First Ball Six
The Brabourne stadium tonight witnessed a vintaged MS Dhoni. He came out to bat in the 19th over, and straightaway powered the first ball for a six over covers.
Rahul Loses His Shoe
During the third ball of Lucknow’s batting, their skipper, KL Rahul, accidentally found his shoe popping out of his left foot while taking a single. He quickly put it on again after the run was completed.
Click here to watch the video of the incident.
A Lady Hit By The Ball
On the first ball of the 19th over of the run chase, Ayush Badoni shivered a cracking hit over square leg for a six. Everything was normal until the camera zoomed on a lady rubbing her forehead in the stands.
Replays showed that she was trying to catch the ball with one hand and got hit while doing so. Thankfully, she was fine, and nothing serious happened.
De Kock- without a six
The South African star Quinton De Kock scored 61 runs off 45 balls, but interestingly, he didn’t hit a single six, which is strange given his reputation. He did hit nine fours, though.
Dube bowls the 19th
CSK fans are yet to fathom the disastrous 19th over bowled by Shivam Dube, giving away 25 runs. I wouldn’t say that it was his fault. The ball was not gripping because of the dew, and he had not bowled for a long time at this level.
Why did Shivam Dube bowl the 19th over?
Yes, there were Jadeja and Moeen available to bowl, but considering the dew factor, they went with the medium-pacer instead of a spinner. The ball wouldn’t have turned had a spinner come into the attack.
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