Lucknow Super Giants rode on Josh Inglis’ pyrotechnics while Chennai Super Kings had Urvil Patel firing for them. LSG achieved 91/1 in their first six overs. CSK sped to 97/1. Inglis’s thunder meant LSG crossed 200 despite a middle-order meltdown. Urvil embarked on a six-hitting spree, bludgeoning the joint-fastest fifty in the history of the league.
LSG would have desired for a lot more, but Jamie Overton had other ideas. A Shahbaz Ahmed cameo trickled the score past 200. Propped up by Urvil, CSK were ruthless for the most part, before halting at the finish line and eventually sneaking through.
In a 23-ball blitz, Urvil cracked open the chase, seemingly turning a 204-run endeavour into a breezy stroll by the time he departed. But the chief architect was Overton: at one point, Inglis threatened to run away with the game, but his dismissal, and Pant’s wicket three balls later, put CSK back in the game. Even though he conceded 17 off his ultimate over, Overton’s triple-strike ensured LSG never quite reached their early projections.
It’s a five-day gap for both teams before they play out an encore in Lucknow.
Brief Scores: Lucknow Super Giants 203/8 in 20 overs [Josh Inglis 85 (33), Shahbaz Ahmed 43 (25); Jamie Overton 3-36, Anshul Kamboj 2-47) lost to Chennai Super Kings 208/5 in 19.2 overs [Urvil Patel 65 (23), Ruturaj Gaikwad 42 (28); Shahbaz Ahmed 2-30, Digvesh Rathi 2-45] by 5 wickets
