By CS Chiwanza.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Moeen Ali starred with bat and ball for Chennai Super Kings as they pulled off a 12-run win over Lucknow Super Giants in a high-scoring encounter at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, on Monday.
CSK batted first and scored 217 for seven. LSG needed 218 to win but only managed 205 for seven.
With 217 runs to play with, Moeen Ali masterfully led the CSK bowling attack in defence of their total. The Englishman conceded a miserly 6.5 runs an over on his way to career-best IPL bowling figures in a match. Ali took four wickets for 26 runs in four overs. Santner took a wicket and conceded 21 runs in his four-over spell to complement Moeen Ali’s outstanding performance.
The victory was a wonderful homecoming for CSK, who played their last home game in April 2019.
Earlier in the day, Gaikwad was at his imperious best for the second match in a row. He has now scored back-to-back half-centuries in CSK’s opening matches. The opener exhibited a combination of elegance and energy as he smashed three fours and four sixes on his way to a sensational 31-ball 57 runs.
Gaikwad has scored 149 runs at a strike rate of 183.95 in two games. That is a sharp contrast to his 2021 haul of 368 runs at a strike rate of 126.46 in 14 matches. The 26-year-old laid the foundation for CSK’s high total of 217. His opening partnership with Devon Conway yielded 110 runs at an astronomical 12 runs an over.
LSG’s answer to CSK’s opening pair was Kyle Meyers. The left-hander gave the visitors a rollicking start. He singlehandedly catapulted LSG to 73 runs in five overs.
Deepak Chahar, Ben Stokes and Tushar Deshpande bowled inconsistent lines and length in the PowerPlay, and Kyle Meyers punished them. The Bajan opener silenced the CSK faithful as he tonked the joint-fastest 50 at the Chepauk. It took him 21 balls to reach his second consecutive half-century in IPL 2023.
The dismissal of Meyers on the next delivery he faced brought the stadium back to life. Moeen Ali and Mitch Santner slowed down LSG’s scoring rate. The pressure resulted in wickets. LSG went from 79 for no wickets to 82 for three in 12 deliveries. LSG needed someone to do what Shivam Dube (27 off 16), Moeen Ali (19 off 13), Ambati Rayudu (27 off 14) and MS Dhoni (12 off three) did for CSK.
Nicholas Pooran (32 from 18) put his hand up for the job, but his effort was not enough to wrestle back control of the match. Ayush Badoni (23) and Krishnappa Gowtham (17) attempted to unsettle things and tilt the match back into LSG’s favour, but their 39-run partnership was not enough.
Tushar Deshpande redeemed himself by taking a couple of wickets to return control into CSK’s after a disastrous start to his bowling innings. Deshpande conceded 18 runs in his first over. He ended the match with two wickets for 45 runs in four overs.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni (capt, wk), Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Rajvardhan Hangargekar.
LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS: KL Rahul (capt & wk), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Marcus Stoinis, Ayush Badoni, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Amit Mishra, Yash Thakur, Mark Wood.