KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) defeated Ruturaj Gaikwad-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in match 34 of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) on Friday, April 19 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.
Winning the toss and opting to bowl first in the match, LSG managed to dismiss Rachin Ravindra for a duck and Ruturaj Gaikwad for 17. However, Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja played crucial innings for CSK before Moeen Ali made significant contributions. . In the end, the LSG players were on the receiving end of an onslaught from MS Dhoni as the CSK legend scored 28 runs off 9 balls and took his team to a total of 176/6.
For Lucknow Super Giants, Krunal Pandya picked up two wickets, while Marcus Stoinis, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Thakur and Mohsin Khan bagged one wicket each.
Chasing the target, KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock gave LSG a remarkable start. De Kock (54) and Rahul (82) did not finish the match but laid a perfect platform for victory which was capitalized on by Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis as LSG won by 8 wickets.
At the post-match presentation ceremony, KL Rahul, who also won the Man of the Match award, said he was delighted with the way they beat CSK and praised his players for executing the plans perfectly. KL Rahul said:
“It feels good at the end of the day. When you win, most decisions feel right. We were committed to our plans. Really happy with that. It depends on the wicket, I use my bowlers. We try to mix it up. The bowlers did it. I executed very well. The team is sticking to the plans. At the halfway point, I would have been happy with 160. The wicket was slow and had a bit of grip.”
KL Rahul was amazed by MS Dhoni’s cameo and said the wicketkeeper-batsman put pressure on the bowlers. KL Rahul said:
“MSD came in and the pressure got to the bowlers. They intimidated the opposition bowlers. Our young bowlers also got pressure and the crowd went crazy. They got 15-20 extra runs. I’ve been trying to evaluate the situation. It came out today.”
KL Rahul revealed that he was ready to face the challenge from CSK’s spinners and chose which players he wanted to hit. He also praised his opening partner Quinton de Kock. KL Rahul said:
“I knew the CSK spinners would apply pressure. I picked my bowlers and it came out. Quinton also batted well. He made life easier for both of us. A different ball game is played in Chennai. I was playing in front of a small Chennai crowd. We “We are a young team and we are happy to play in front of such a crowd.”
Before the match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), LSG was at the 5th position in the Indian Premier League 2024 points table with 3 wins and 6 points. Now, they have kept that place but with 8 points in their bag.
Results of previous 5 matches of Lucknow Super Giants in Indian Premier League 2024
In their previous 5 matches in the Indian Premier League 2024, Lucknow Super Giants emerged victorious in three matches and lost.
On April 14, KL Rahul & Co. faced Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and received an 8-wicket drubbing. On April 12, Lucknow Super Giants took on Rishabh Pant-led Delhi Capitals (DC) and faced a 6-wicket defeat.
Before facing the aforementioned defeats, LSG were on a winning streak as they defeated Shubman Gill-led Gujarat Titans (GT) by 33 runs on April 7, Faf du Plessis-led Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on April 2 April for 28 races. and Shikhar Dhawan-led Punjab Kings (PBKS) on March 30 by 21 runs to register a hat-trick of wins.