KL's gritty knock and de Kock's fifty helps LSG successfully chase target vs CSK

After MS Dhoni nailed the last bite by scoring 28 off nine deliveries KL Rahul 82 and Quinton de Kocks 54 masterclass during a 154run opening wicket partnership helped Lucknow Super Giants beat Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets in the highest successful run chase at Ekana Cricket Stadium here on FridayDhoni was shadowbatting in the dressing room with three bats next to him with Chennai Super Kings struggling to put up a big score After 15 overs CSK were 1135 and with two lefthand batters out there Jadeja and Moeen Until this game CSK had scored at 1126 in the death overs and if they could get anywhere closer to that they would be more than happy especially to post something around 160Earlier given the chance to bat first Chennai got off to a poor start as Mohsin Khan from the Media End struck on the very first ball He bowled a scrambled seam delivery to Rachin Ravindra and disturbed the stumps to make the crowd roar for him A firstball duck for Rachin and Mohsin bowled pretty tight for the rest of the over too to concede just three runsCSK had just started to pick up pace after being 71 in two overs and were 291 after four KL Rahul then made a bowling change and brought on Yash Thakur for Matt Henry 20170 and he struck with his second ball to have the CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad for 17And much to everyones surprise out outwalked Ravindra Jadeja at No 4 And as soon as the Powerplay ended Krunal Pandya came in the attack and he started with a quiet one just six runs from the over Ajinkya Rahane on the other end was going well for CSK at 26 off 16 after the Powerplay despite battling a niggle in the last game in Mumbai with four fours and a six alreadyAfter a quiet first over Krunal got the wicket of Rahane who was setting up nicely with 36 off 23 before swinging across the line for a ball that wasnt so short The inform Shivam Dube came out at No5 and considering his ability to attack against spinner Rahul was bound to take his prime spinner Pandya out of attack Just to highlight Dube had never got out to either Pandya or Ravi Bishnoi in his entire IPL careerIt was hard to say which team was in front and that was because LSG had removed a set batter Rahane after the Powerplay and Jadeja was knocking them at 27 off 18 as Dube was taking his time to tick along LSG then brought on a fast bowler from one end Yash Thakur probably to bowl some short and quick ones to DubeAlso ReadInjuries dont define you Mohammed Shami shares rehab updateAfter bowling backtoback spinners overs against Jadeja and Dube Rahul brought on pace from both ends As soon as Marcus Stoinis came in he bowled an innocuouslooking short delivery at 1254 kmh Dube went for the pull and topedged for a skier which Rahul settled under just in time next to the pitch Dube got out after scoring three runs from eight deliveriesSameer Rizvi the new man at No 6 came in as an Impact Sub for Rahane who wont field in the chase CSK were slowing down after the 12 overs and scored 894 with the last five overs bringing only 322CSK were crumbling with five down in 13 overs and a strange wicket fell on Pandyarsquos ball with Sameer Rizvi dancing miles down the ground for Rahul to effect a stumping Rizvi lasted all of five balls for just one run and hasnt impressed at all in his maiden IPL seasonDhoni was shadowbatting in the dressing room with three bats next to him Moeen Ali joined Jadeja who was making CSK tick along He was on 33 off 24 CSK were 935 after 13 overs After 15 overs CSK were 1135 and with two lefthand batters out there Jadeja and Moeen Until this game CSK had scored at 1126 in the death overs and if they could get anywhere closer to that they would be more than happy especially to post something around 160Bishnoi came back to bowl his last over of the spell which he later ended with the figure of 144 was taken down by Moeen Ali for three backtoback sixes in the 18th over Two on the leg side and one over longoff before he holed out to deep midwicket But he departed after scoring 30 from 20 deliveries CSK were 142 for 6 after 18 oversIn came Dhoni and kicked off with a onebounce four through extra cover a most unDhonilike six over the keepers head after walking across the stumps as Mohsin was bowling very wide of the crease CSK were 157 for 6 after 19 with 15 from the 19th overThe 19run last over from Yash Thakur propelled CSK to 176 for 6 after Dhoni powered his way for 16 runs in the last four deliveries after just three runs came from the first two Jadeja remained unbeaten on 57 in 40 deliveries with Dhoni scoring 28 in just nine deliveriesFor LSG Pandya struck twice and Mohsin Yash Ravi and Stoinis claimed a wicket eachChasing a modest target of 177 Lucknow openers Rahul and de Kock gave a good start and added 32 runs in the first four overs After Deepak Chaharrsquos threerun first over Tushar Deshpande was smashed for nine in the second over and LSG raced away to 32 runs in four oversWith the talk around Rahulrsquos strike rate in T20s especially in IPL the LSG skipper raced to 34 off 20 with some classy strokes and led his team to 54 for no loss in the Powerplay along with de Kock for their joint secondbest Powerplay score of the season LSG and Rahul would have gained loads of confidence with plenty of strokes that he scored playing the aggressive role in the chaseHe has belted out his mighty pulls classy drives and perfectlytimed pickup shots to set up the chase nicely Rahul was nicely placed on 46 off 27 and de Kock scored 34 off 27 balls after the end of nine overs LSG were 84 for no loss after nine their best opening stand this IPL and they needed 93 off 66Rahul was dealing with boundaries He first played a cut shot past Jadeja to reach his fifty off 31 balls It was his 35th halfcentury in the IPL Next ball he sliced it just wide of point for another four and that brought up LSGs 100 As many as 14 runs came off Jadejas third over and CSKrsquos eleventh LSG were 103 after 11 and need 74 off 54Until this match CSK were the stranglers of the middle overs in this IPL something that they showed in their last game against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Their economy rate of 703 in the middle overs before this match was well below the next best Delhi Capitals 804 and CSK had also taken 21 wickets in this phase only behind DCs 22Pathirana had done a lot of work in the middle overs to make that happen but on Friday like the rest of the bowling attack the Sri Lankan was not as effectiveRahul and de Kock cruised along for nearly 15 overs and CSK finally got a breakthrough as De Kock edged an offcutter from Mustafizur Rahman behind to MS Dhoni for 54 off 43 and LSG were 134 for 1 after 15 oversLSG needed 43 from 30 and Nicholas Pooran joined his captain and straightaway sent his second ball for a maximum off Pathiranarsquos delivery In the very next over he smoked Rahman for backtoback boundaries and then Rahul ended the over with the third boundary of the over as Rahman gave away 15 runs in his last over of the spell He ended his spell with figures of 143With 16 needed out of 18 deliveries Jadeja guiding the backward point pulled out a screamer dicing to his left with a singlehanded catch to dismiss Rahul on 82 off Pathiranarsquos deliveryIn came Marcus Stoinis at No 4 and with the help of 15 runs of Tushar Deshpandersquos last over of the spell LSG won the match by eight wickets and six deliveries remaining This was the highest successful chase at Ekana Cricket Stadium breaking the previous record of Delhi Capitals who chased down a total of 168 runs against Lucknow Super GiantsBrief scoresChennai Super Kings 1766 in 20 overs Ravindra Jadeja 57 not out Ajinkya Rahane 36 Krunal Pandya 216 Marcus Stoinis 17 lost to Lucknow Super Giants 1802 in 19 overs KL Rahul 82 Quinton de Kock 54 Matheesa Pathirana 119 Mustafizur Rahman 143 by eight wicketsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its 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