Matheesha Pathirana picked up her first wicket in style in the ongoing game between Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants by castling Devdutt Padikkal with a beauty at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Devdutt Padikkal had to come out to bat in the fifth over after LSG lost the wickets of both their openers in the powerplay. Deepak Chahar dismissed Quinton de Kock for a duck in the first over to give CSK a good start. In the fifth over, Mustafizur Rahman returned LSG captain KL Rahul for 16 to leave the visitors reeling at 33 for 2.
Devdutt Padikkal and Marcus Stoinis steadied the ship by sharing a 50-over stand for the third wicket. However, just when it looked like they were ready and could take LSG to a strong position, Matheesha Pathirana broke the partnership by castling Devdutt Padikkal.
On the last ball of the 11th over, the right-arm pacer dismissed the left-handed batsman to give CSK a much-needed breakthrough. It was a long delivery on the leg stump and Padikkal just couldn’t pick the length. His feet remained rooted and the ball crashed into the stumps before dislodging the stump.
Watch Matheesha Pathirana locks up Devdutt Padikkal:
pic.twitter.com/Fdyv7r28Mh
– Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (@Hanji_CricDekho) April 23, 2024
Devdutt Padikkal departed after scoring 13 runs off 19 balls and sharing a 53-run stand with Stoinis. Talking about the game, LSG were 143 for 3 in the 16th over at the time of writing this report. Marcus Stoinis batted with 86 while Nicholas Pooran had 21.
Earlier in the game, CSK finished their innings at 210 for 4 in 20 overs after being asked to bat first. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad starred with the bat as he scored an unbeaten century. He scored 108 runs off just 60 balls and became the first CSK captain to score an IPL century. Shivam Dube also played a crucial role, smashing 66 runs off just 27 balls.