LUCKNOW: Chennai Super Kings’ playoff hopes were dented after Lucknow Super Giants scripted a facile seven-wicket win at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.
In his first season last year, Lucknow Super Giants’ mystery spinner Digvesh Rathi gained everyone’s attention for his signature “notebook” celebration, where he mimicked writing down the name of a dismissed batter.
On Friday too, yet another different celebration style caught everyone’s attention. This time it was Lucknow Super Giants’ left-arm pacer Akash Singh, who in his first match of the season, flashed out a note after taking a wicket. The note read: “#Akki on fire – Akash knows how to take wickets in a T20 game.”
This Bharatpur-boy did it thrice in the Chennai Super Kings innings after taking the wickets of Sanju Samson, skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and in-form Urvil Patel in consecutive overs, keeping the fans entertained. However, another man from Bharatpur, known as a serial six-hitter, Kartik Sharma brought a struggling CSK out of danger and helped the side post a challenging 187/5.
However, this didn’t significantly impact the final result as LSG openers Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis ensured a perfect reply with their blistering batting in the Powerplay.
Marsh, who achieved a personal milestone of hitting his 100th six in IPL history, was ruthless toward CSK pacers, especially CSK’s best-bet Anshul Kamboj, whom the Australian struck for 28 runs in his second over, hitting four consecutive sixes within the Powerplay. Marsh’s 38-ball 90, containing nine boundaries and seven sixes, remained his second-best this season before he was run out in an unfortunate manner.
Playing just his third match of the season, Inglis played the perfect role of second fiddle, pacing his innings with singles and doubles, while striking 32-ball 36 with three boundaries and a six before being holed out by Urvil Patel off Mukesh Choudhary.
He and Marsh stitched together a 135-run opening partnership. Thereafter, LSG lost three quick wickets, but it didn’t make much of a difference as Nicholas Pooran’s consecutive four sixes off Kamboj’s third over sealed the game for LSG with 20 balls to spare.
Earlier, LSG’s disciplined hard-length assault briefly strangled CSK’s top order, but their middle and lower order turned tactical pressure into an attacking finale on a quick red-soil surface after Rishabh Pant chose to field first after winning the toss.
Their plan was simple and effective early on, as they nursed the surface with a probing hard length that denied room for full drives and neutralised CSK’s customary back-foot flourish. Akash Singh executed it to perfection, extracting awkward bounce and angles to remove top three, leaving CSK struggling a bit 71/3 at the half way mark. Pacer Mayank Yadav also remained effective, conceding just 26 runs at 6.50.
That squeeze invited a recalibration from CSK. Instead of forcing against the barrage of short balls, 20-year-old Kartik chose measured aggression —targeting the spinners and picking moments against the pacers — blending caution with selective brutality.
He punished Shahbaz Ahmed’s loose balls and, crucially, found a way to ramp up against the pacers late, including back-to-back sixes off Prince Yadav and a cameo-consolidating loft over Mohammed Shami that took him to a well-crafted 50 off 35 balls.
Support arrived in phases. Dewald Brevis put on a solid 70-run for the fourth wicket, rotating strike and blunting Akash’s persistent line until a sharp bouncer undid him. Shivam Dube’s late surge (32 off 16 balls, including three fours and two sixes) turned the gathered momentum into scoreboard pressure, plundering Prince for 23 in the final over.
