Lucknow: After back-to-back losses, the Lucknow Super Giants aimed to bounce back in style when they hosted reigning champions Chennai Super Kings at the BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium on Friday.
The Ekana gig proved to be a curtain raiser as they face CSK again in Chennai next Tuesday, the Lucknow result was highly anticipated as the contest laid the ground for the playoff ambitions in the IPL 2024. Ekana set the tone for the clash at Chepauk.
The clash with five-time champions CSK is crucial given that they are currently third on the IPL 2024 points table with eight points from six games. LSG entered the CSK clash with two less from as many matches and were fifth.
Speed sensation Mayank Yadav was back bowling in the nets after missing the last two games with injury and the pacer’s return has been a huge boost for the team.
In Ravi Bishnoi, the in-form Yash Thakur, Mohsin Khan and Naveen Ul-Haq there is a well-rounded bowling battery capable of troubling any batting line-up in the IPL. Yash, with seven wickets in five outings, is the top wicket taker this season.
Nicky P, with 223 runs in six matches, has been the pick of batters this season, closely followed by captain KL Rahul, who has 204. Ayush Badoni hitting form in the last two games added considerably to the depth of the batting line-up, which includes the likes of Marcus Stoinis and Quinton de Kock.
KL, was playing the match one day after celebrating his 32nd birthday. His repertoire shined with a stellar record against CSK, having already scored 455 runs at an average of 41.4 against them in 12 IPL matches.
The CSK pace duo of Matheesha Pathirana and Mustafizur Rahman posed the biggest threat to LSG batters. Rahman, with 10 wickets in five matches, has been in contention for the Purple Cap while Pathirana is enjoying a brilliant campaign, having already accumulated eight scalps from just three matches.
CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shivam Dube have been the Yellow Brigade’s standout batters in IPL 2024. MS Dhoni’s finishing prowess in the death overs is also a factor to turn the tide.
LSG won their first meeting against the Super Kings in IPL 2022 by six wickets but lost to them by 12 runs at Chepauk last season. The reverse fixture at the Ekana, however, was washed out.
Interestingly, both matches which had a result saw both teams register scores of 200 plus in each innings. We are one of the newest teams in the Indian Premier League but our novelty hasn’t stopped us from emerging as one of the most formidable bowling sides in the IPL.
Over the years, LSG bowlers have come up with some truly special spells, which have turned games in their favour in gazab andaaz.
The bowlers have consistently delivered clutch performances and this was one of the key reasons why they reached the playoffs in first two seasons and are playing well in the third.
They needed a ‘gazab andaaz’ spell to turn the tables on GT and it was Yash Thakur who stepped up with a game-changing performance. His exceptional five-wicket haul secured a 33-run victory earlier.
With Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan batting aggressively in the powerplay, they were in dire need of a breakthrough. Yash delivered spectacularly, dismantling Gill’s stumps with a pinpoint yorker in the sixth over.
DC needed 50 off 24 with five wickets in hand, Mohsin then dealt the Capitals a double blow by removing Rovman Powell and Shardul Thakur and ended his spell with four wickets in four overs. DC eventually fell short by just six runs.
