Match 7 of IPL 2022 witnessed another instance of a successful chase in excess of 200 under lights on a small ground. Of the seven matches this season, the side batting second has won six times. Evin Lewis, Quinton de Kock, and Ravi Bishnoi were the heroes for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as they registered their first ever win in the Indian Premier League, beating Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by six wickets.
Chennai remain winless after two matches as their strategy of trusting their young bowlers in a crunch situation did not work out for their new captain Ravindra Jadeja.
Earlier, LSG captain K.L. Rahul won the toss and decided to bowl. They brought in Andrew Tye in their XI, while Chennai brought in Moeen Ali, Dwaine Pretorius, and young Indian left-arm quick Mukesh Choudhary.
Chennai Super Kings 210/7 in 20 overs
Chennai opener Robin Uthappa started with two fours off the first two balls he faced. He hit a six and four in the next over, and four fours in Tye’s first over of the tournament. After Ruturaj Gaikwad was run out for a single, Uthappa and Moeen took CSK to 73/1 at the end of Powerplay.
The introduction of the leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi helped Rahul to regain some control. Bishnoi pinned Uthappa plumb in front just after he completed a 25-ball fifty. CSK comfortably reached 106/2 at the end of the 10th over.
Avesh Khan dismissed Moeen for a 22-ball 35 off the first ball of the next over. However, Shivam Dube and Ambati Rayudu added 60 in the next six overs. Though Rayudu fell to Bishnoi for 27, handy cameos from Jadeja and M.S. Dhoni helped CSK reach 210/7 despite losing late wickets.
Lucknow Super Giants 211/4 in 18.3 overs
Rahul and Quinton de Kock did not take time to respond, racing to 55/0 . They were not as aggressive as CSK but still raced to 55/0 in the Powerplay. However, Dwayne Bravo and Dwaine Pretorius helped CSK gain some control. De Kock slowed down, taking 34 balls to reach his fifty. Rahul soon fell to Pretorius for 40.
Manish Pandey then hit straight to Bravo at mid off. Forced to take a risk, de Kock mistimed a pitched-up ball to become Pretorius’ second wicket, scoring just 11 runs in 11 balls after reaching his fifty.
Evin Lewis, who generally plays an opener, came at No. 4. After 15 overs, LSG needed another 67. Lewis found support in Hooda, who hit a four and a six in his 8-ball 13. But when he became Bravo’s record-breaking 171st IPL wicket, LSG still needed 40 off 16. And when Bravo bowled out, they needed 34 in 12.
With the dew making it more and more difficult to bowl spin, Jadeja could not bring on himself or Moeen. Instead, he opted for Dube. Ayush Badoni started the over with a six, which Dube followed with two wides. Then Lewis finished the over with 4, 4, 6, the last six taking him to the fastest fifty of IPL 2022.
The LSG batters scored 25 runs in that over and the match was effectively in their pocket. Choudhary began with two wides before the cool-headed Badoni hit another six to help finish the match with three balls to spare.
Brief Scores
Chennai Super Kings 210/7 in 20 overs (Robin Uthappa 50; Ravi Bishnoi 2-24) lost to Lucknow Super Giants 211/4 in 19.3 overs (Quinton de Kock 61, Dwaine Pretorius 2-31) by 6 wickets with 3 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Evin Lewis.