LSG have played against a tough opposition like CSK at their home ground on 19th April. They won the match rather easily due to the splendid innings by their captain KL Rahul. CSK bowlers could not really have an impact due to considerable dew and rather attainable target. KL Rahul for the first time in IPL 2024, showcased his skills to the fullest in this match. Hence, LSG won comprehensively against CSK with 8 wickets and 6 balls remaining.
Earlier, LSG have won the toss and elected to field first. With an absolute peach of a delivery, they got Rachin Ravindra for a first ball duck. Ajinkya Rahane(36) came good after a slow start but Ruturaj Gaikwad failed. With a surprise promotion Ravindra Jadeja came out at No.4 but seemed too circumspect early in his innings. Shivam Dube and Sameer Rizvi failed to up the ante.
Moeen Ali(30) took his time but came good in the death overs. Ravindra Jadeja completed his 50 and scored 57 from 40 balls. MS Dhoni came out when only two overs are left in the innings and scored stunning 28 runs from 9 balls to give a huge finish to CSK innings. CSK scored 176/6 with his last overs’ effort in 20 overs. Krunal Pandya(2/16) ended up being the best bowler of the night.
In the chase, Quinton de Kock struggled but KL Rahul took aggressive route. He played some classy shots to leave CSK bowlers with no chance at all. Slowly, circumspect Quinton also started to rotate strike and find few boundaries. He scored 54 runs of 43 balls at an uncharacteristically slow rate. But KL Rahul dominated the innings and they both have put on 134 runs opening partnership giving no chance for CSK to make any come back.
KL Rahul fell short of century when LSG needed just 16 runs to win after scoring 82 runs from 53 balls. His innings made all the difference for LSG in this game. They ended up scoring 180/2 in 19 overs rather easily. Well, CSK at the halfway mark have lost 3 matches and won 4 matches. LSG are also on similar points but CSK have a healthier NRR. Going ahead CSK would love to win most of their matches to keep the distance intact.