In the sixth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, four-time champions Chennai Super Kings faced Lucknow Super Giants led by KL Rahul. After Chennai lost their opening match against Gujarat Titans, they followed it up with a win against Lucknow.
Although Chennai Super Kings led by MS Dhoni bagged their first points in the tournament, they have a problem on their side. In the two games so far from IPL, the bowlers from CSK have overstepped five times, three times in the last game alone.
It is 27-year-old Tushar Deshpande who has bowled four of the five no-balls for Chennai. Deshpande commented on his performance so far and said he was focused on his comeback.
The spinners brought CSK back into the game as Mitchell Santner struck just after the powerplay when he caught Deepak Hooda at wide long-on, and in the next over Moeen caught big Rahul (20 off 18) caught at deep mid-wicket and then Krunal Pandya at long-on.
Pooran put pressure on Rajvardhan Hangargekar, hitting him for a six and a couple of fours. But Santner evened things up with a tight three-run over to end a economical spell of 4-0-21-1.
Moeen was not done yet, though, as he cleared Marcus Stoinis (21 for 18) in his final over to finish with brilliant figures of 4-0-26-4.
Pooran continued to fight and hit a couple of sixes from Ravindra Jadeja, including an outrageous and huge switch-hit six into the stands.
Impact player Tushar Deshpande then provided a defining moment in the game when he caught Pooran (32 for 18) at long-off in the 16th over, allowing just six runs.
K Gowtham and Ayush Badoni needed 62 off 24 runs and scored 18 runs off the Chahar over in which Gowtham was also caught. But Deshpande again tossed up an excellent over in which he gave away just 7 runs to take the equation to 37 off 12. Hangargekar, who gave away 15 runs in his first over, came back to give away nine runs in a crucial penultimate over as CSK fielders made crucial stops in the field. Deshpande defended 28 in the last over, conceding 15 runs and taking the wicket of Badoni, giving CSK a 12-run win in the match.
Earlier, Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul won the coin toss and elected to bowl. Yash Thakur replaced Jaydev Unadkat and made a change in the team. Daniel Sams, Prerak Mankad, Ayush Badoni, Jaydev Unadkat and Amit Mishra were named as substitutes.
Chennai Super Kings, on the other hand, remained unchanged. They named Tushar Deshpande, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, Ajinkya Rahane and Dwaine Pretorius as their substitutes.
CSK -openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway got their team off to a solid start by scoring the highest powerplay score in their home country and posting 110 for the first wicket. They started very cautiously, scoring six runs in the first over. The home side gained momentum in the second over as Avesh Khan started with five WIDES, Ruturaj Gaikwad smashed one for three runs through mid-wicket and Devon Conway hit a couple of fours through point and cover to score 17 runs from the over.
Gaikwad opened his boundary account when he placed a very full ball from Mayers through point for a four and pulled one over mid-wicket from Krunal Pandya for his second four. CSK reached 40/0 after four overs.
Gaikwad took on K Gowtham who hit three beautiful lofts for three sixes to score 20 runs from the over and take CSK to fifty. Conway joined the party and immediately chased down the hero of the last game, Mark Wood, with three fours in a row. The second appeared to hit his top edge as he pulled, but the umpire scored it as four byes. Ruturaj hit the penultimate ball for a six over the back half of the pitch as they scored 19 runs from the over and CSK posted the highest powerplay score of 79/0 at MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Debutant Yash Thakur pitched a good first over, conceding just seven runs. Gaikwad then scored his 50th, the second in a row, off just 25 balls to a rapturous reception from the crowd. CSK got going again when Conway threw a couple of sixes over Krunal Pandya’s deep mid-wicket line to make it 100 for CSK in the 8th over.