Lucknow Super Giants registered an 8-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow in the 34th match of the ongoing IPL 2024. Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul smashed quick fifties and reached the finish line with ease.

Lucknow Super Giants won the toss and opted to bowl first. Put into bat, CSK opener Rachin Ravindra got out on a duck. However, Ajinkya Rahane steadied the ship with Ruturaj Gaikwad and both the batters took on every LSG bowler and added 29 runs for the second wicket.

MS Dhoni starred with the bat

However, in this partnership, Rahane was the front-runner and the captain successfully played the anchor’s role. He got out after scoring 17 off 13 with 1 four. However, Rahane tried to steady the ship and found support in Ravindra Jadeja who remained unbeaten at 57 off 40 with 5 fours and a six.

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Meanwhile, the lower middle-order couldn’t contribute much apart from Moeen Ali and MS Dhoni. While Moeen smashed a quick 30 off 20 with 3 sixes, Dhoni smacked a quick 9-ball 28 with 3 fours and 2 sixes. And, they finished at 176 for 6 in their allotted 20 overs. For LSG, Krunal Pandya claimed 2 wickets.

LSG openers scored quick fifties

While chasing, Lucknow Super Giants had the best possible start as their openers Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul got off to a flying start. They added 134 runs for the first wicket before de Kock got out for 54. He also smashed 5 fours and 1 six.

On the other hand, KL Rahul played a captain’s knock where he scored a stunning 82 off 53 with 9 fours and 3 sixes. After his dismissal, Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis added the rest of the runs and sealed the deal for Lucknow Super Giants as well.

KL Rahul, skipper of LSG and Player of the Match said after the match: “Feels good at the end of the day. When you win, most decisions feel right. We were committed to our plans. Really happy with that. Depends on the wicket, I deploy my bowlers. We tried to mix it around. The bowlers executed really well. The team is sticking to the plans. Half way stage, I would have been happy with 160. The wicket was slow and a bit of grip.”