'What a pair for high pressure situations' - Twitter lauds Lewis and Badoni after LSG chase 211 vs CSK

Lucknow Super Giants have notched up their maiden win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) beating Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by six wickets. LSG paced their chase of 211 runs well with Quinton de Kock and Evin Lewis smashing half-centuries while Ayush Badoni showed his range of hitting in the death overs proving that he has a calm head over his shoulders.

Earlier, Robin Uthappa got CSK off to a sensational start. Though he lost his opening partner Ruturaj Gaikwad to a harmless run-out, Uthappa just teed off from the word taking the attack to the LSG bowlers. He punished anything wide or on to his legs churning out runs effortlessly. Moeen Ali, playing his first game of the season, came out to bat at three and kept the run-rate going.

The second-wicket stand of 56 runs came in just five overs even as Uthappa reached his fifty off only 25 balls yet again proving experience matters in the shortest form of the game. However, Ravi Bishnoi pinned him in front of the stumps at the right time, much to the relief of LSG side. The young leg-spinner was impressive yet again during his four-over spell when the other bowlers were going for plenty at the other end.

He also castled Ambati Rayudu in the final over of his spell as well ending with the figures of 2/24. In the meantime, Shivam Dube, promoted to bat at four, stunned everyone with his power hitting. The talented batter couldn’t contribute with the bat much in the previous game but made amends against LSG. It was an exhibition some excellent hitting from him before he got out on 49 from 30 balls with five fours and two sixes.

Ravindra Jadeja (17 off 9) and MS Dhoni (16* off 6) played brief cameos towards the end of the innings to take CSK to a mammoth total of 210 runs for the loss of seven wickets. Most of the LSG bowlers conceded more than 10 runs per over but only Bishnoi impressed with his leg-spin in tough conditions to bowl.

The thrilling chase

The 211-run chase needed a solid start and that is what the duo of KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock provided to LSG. Both of them took calculated risks to keep up with the required run-rate. CSK made things tough themselves with Moeen Ali dropping a sitter to reprieve De Kock in the 6th over while Rahul was also let off in the 8th over of the innings.

Rahul and De Kock made them pay notching up a brilliant 99-run stand in around 10 overs. De Kock also got to his half-century and things had started to look ominous for CSK. However, the debutant Dwaine Pretorius read Rahul’s mind to surprise him with a short ball even as the batter crouched down to play shot over fine-led fielder. But Rahul could only top-edge and Ambati Rayudu held on to a good catch running behind.

Manish Pandey’s poor run in IPL continued as he smacked one straight into the hands of mid-off fielder. Soon De Kock ran out of steam as he top-edged a short ball from Pretorius only to be caught by MS Dhoni. CSK did well to put some good overs which eventually put pressure on the South African batter and eventually he succumbed. Nevertheless, De Kock did well to smash 61 off 45 deliveries with nine fours to his name.

Meanwhile, Evin Lewis batting at number four hit some lusty blows at the other end to keep his side in the game. Dwayne Bravo took the responsibility on himself to bowl the 18th over of the innings and snaffled Deepak Hooda to become the highest wicket-taker ever in the IPL. The equation came down to 34 runs off the last two overs and with main bowlers bowled out, the onus was put on Shivam Dube to bowl for the first time in the match.

And the all-rounder succumbed to pressure with Ayush Badoni smashing him for a sensational six while Evin Lewis also had a piece of him as the duo churned out 25 runs off the penultimate over. With only nine runs to defend, debutant Mukesh Choudhary couldn’t do much as the ever impressive Badoni finished the game in style for his side s LSG notched up their first ever win in the tournament.

Meanwhile, CSK have lost their second consecutive game of the season and they have a lot of homework to do. They will have to sort out their combination soon before the time runs out.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: