IPL 2022, LSG vs CSK, Match 07, Top Three Performances: Evein Lewis's 55*, Quinton De Kock's 61 and Ravi Bishnoi's 2-24 help LSG register 1st win
Brief Scores: LSG 211/4 (de Kock 61, Lewis 55*, Pretorius 2/31) beat CSK 210/7 (Uthappa 50, Dube 49, Bishnoi 2/24, Avesh 2/38) by six wickets
Player of the Match: Evin Lewis (unbeaten 55 runs off 23 balls)
Both Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) planned for better top order performances following defeats in both of their respective opening games. They were pitted against each other at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in the seventh match of the 15th season of Indian Premier League (IPL).
KL Rahul, after winning the toss, opted to bowl first. LSG handed debut cap to Andrew Tye, who was their last-minute injury call-up replacing Mark Wood. Ravindra Jadeja-led CSK too provided maiden cap to Dwayne Pretorius, besides including Mooen Ali and Mukesh Choudhary in the playing eleven.
Lucknow grasped their first IPL win in high-scoring affair
Put in to bat first, Chennai Super Kings posted a huge score of 210 after the allotted 20 overs. Robin Uthappa, who cracked his 26th half-century overall and 17th fifty at a strike rate of over 150, laid a good platform in an aggressive partnership with Mooen Ali.
Later on, Shivam Dube, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni kept the flow to register a huge mountain which still was an average total given the amount of dew had fallen on the ground.
In response, the 99-run opening partnership between Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul built the best platform for LSG’s chase before Evin Lewis got in the act to steal the spotlight with the fastest fifty of this season so far to help the new franchise win their first IPL game.
This is the first time that the Chennai Super Kings have lost their first two games in an IPL season. This is also just the second time a team has chased 200+ against CSK in IPL since Mumbai Indians chased 219 last year.
Let's have a look at IPL 2022, LSG vs CSK, Top Three Performances:
Ravi Bishnoi made an impact with the ball and in the field
Even before 21-year-old Ravi Bishnoi received the ball in his hand, he created a huge impact by dismissing Ruturaj Gaikwad courtesy an electrifying run out to send him back on a personal score of just 1.
In a game where all the bowlers had been smacked at an economy of over 10, the leg spinner from Rajasthan finished with 2-24 in his four overs. In his very first over, he got rid of Robin Uthappa who had already smashed 50 off 25 balls. This was the maiden time he got the better of Uthappa who had struggled scoring against the leg -spinner at a humble strike rate of 111.
Bishnoi, who was bagged by Lucknow in the auction at a price of just INR 4 crores, kept the line tight which did not allow batters to free their arms against him. In the last over of his spell, he disturbed the stumps of Ambati Rayudu who was looking keen to shift gears. This was also the first time Rayudu had got out to Bishnoi but he struggled a lot during this particular innings against him scoring just four runs off seven deliveries from the leggie.
Bishnoi’s terrific bowling figures did help Lucknow to slow down Chennai in the middle overs.
Read More: IPL 2022, GT vs LSG, Top Performances: Shami's 3-25, Tewatia's 40*(24) hand Titans maiden win
KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock opening stand of 99 runs built strong platform for the chase
The best thing the Lucknow franchise would have expected in chasing such a huge score was a powerful opening partnership and that was exactly what KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock provided through their 99-run opening partnership.
The duo began the innings with calculative risk, before going berserk against the Chennai bowlers. KL Rahul loves playing Chennai with 365 runs in 8 innings against them since 2018, including four fifties. He appeared to be more aggressive in the powerplay.
While his partner, de Kock who too has a decent record against the Whistle Podu army with 340 runs at a strike rate of 132, took some time at first before smashing the Chennai bowlers all over the park. They raced away to 55/0 after the powerplay.
Even though, KL Rahul got out on 40 from just 26 balls, de Kock went on to score his 17th half-century to lay down the best possible platform for the Lucknow side to chase the daunting score.
Read More: IPL 2022, CSK vs KKR, Top Performances: Rahane’s 44, Umesh’s 2-20 trump Dhoni’s 50*
Evin Lewis steals show with unbeaten 55 off 23 balls
Just after the break, Chennai bowlers made a comeback in the game dismissing KL Rahul and Manish Pandey in a span of couple of overs. When Evin Lewis, who was pocketed by LSG at a base price of INR 2 crores, came out to bat, LSG still required 105 runs from 52 balls.
Soon, set batter Quinton de Kock too was dismissed as pressure was mounting on the chasing team. But the left-handed power hitter from Trinidad stood tall and took on the opposition bowlers. He smacked young Tushar Deshpande for a six and a four. Lewis generally loves Chennai, a team against whom last year he had grabbed runs at a strike rate of 225.
With the overs ticking by, Lucknow were losing wickets from one end but Lewis stood tall and clubbed away some monster over-boundaries to reach his fifty in just 23 balls, which was the fastest of the season so far.
This innings helped Lucknow to snatch their first IPL win and thereby open their account this season.
What’s to come
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) who lost their last game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will hope to come back to winning ways against Punjab Kings (PBKS) who had won their season opener. The game will be played at the iconic Wankhede Stadium.
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