IPL 2024: Lucknow Super Giants vs Chennai Super Kings, 34th Match - Who Said What?

Lucknow Super Giants picked up a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings to strengthen their place on the points table. Skipper KL Rahul led by example while the bowling unit had a terrific day on the field, except for the time when MS Dhoni was on the crease. The veteran stumper-batter looked flawless with the bat and with that, his batting position is once again a matter of discussion.

Batting first, CSK lost wickets like a house of cards as they were 90/5 at one stage. Despite that, Dhoni waited for his time and sent the likes of Sameer Rizvi and Moeen Ali ahead of him, despite them not being in good form. However, after they went back to the pavilion, Dhoni took control of the situation as the 42-year-old smashed 28* runs off just nine balls while Ravindra Jadeja made 57 runs off 40 deliveries to help CSK post 176 runs in the first innings.

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When it came to the chase, Quinton de Kock and Rahul gave LSG a dream start. The opening duo stitched a partnership of 134 runs as that sealed CSK’s fate for the night. Jadeja picked up a stunner to dismiss Rahul for 82 runs while Mustafizur picked up the wicket of Quinton on 54 runs as after their dismissal, Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis helped the team cross the line with one over remaining.

1. Why Number 8, Dhoni?

Being the kind of form Dhoni is in, the legendary cricketer should bat at number five and take control of the situation. The situation was ideal against LSG but he once again delayed things and that might have cost CSK the game as after the match, skipper Ruturaj confirmed that they were 15 runs short in the end.

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2. LSG’s dynamic duo

Neither KL Rahul nor Quinton de Kock looked very threatening with the bat but they ultimately got the job done. They were lucky with the bat as well but cricketers do need a bit of luck at times to win games. Their 130-run partnership proved to be lethal in the end as LSG registered their fourth win of the season.

Losing skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad said:

We finished well with the bat, couldn't have asked more with the situation we were in. After powerplay we couldn't capitalize on the start we got and we kept losing wickets at regular intervals. I would say we were 10-15 runs short. Slightly difficult with such a total, with the impact sub rule you need 10-15 or even 20 runs extra. Pitches like these seem sluggish to start off with but with dew coming on it gets better, 190 would have been a good score. One area we would like to improve in taking wickets in the powerplay. That will put pressure on the opposition. We need to work on it. Good to play them again (next game at Chepauk). We will come up with good homework done now that we have three home games.

Winning skipper and POTM KL Rahul said:

Feels good at the end of the day, When you win, looks like you make all the decisions right. Impossible to get all right. Depends on the kind of wicket we are playing on and the kind of batters there are. We spend time doing homework on tactics and strategy and we spoke about them not settling against one style of bowling. We worked really hard at training, good to see the team sticking to that. Halfway stage, I would have happy with 160. Felt the wicket was slow, a bit of grip but not too much. 160-165 would have been ideal. But MSD walks in and the bowlers feel intimidated. He walks in and bowlers were under pressure, the crowd was really loud, he has done it in the past. Felt that if we bat well, we could chase it down. I have been trying to assess the situation and today it came off. With Chennai's spinners, they tried to put brakes on us. We tried to get to a good start. Tried to take them down, luckily it came off. When your partnership goes on, you can take a few more chances. Glad that it happened. I don't think the crowd in Chennai will roar for us. I told the boys in huddle to get used to the crowd cheering for CSK because we would get it again in a few days. Looking forward to playing CSK in a couple of days.