Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant offered a puzzling explanation for opting to bowl a spinner in the final over without keeping any overs in hand for his fast bowlers, as Chennai Super Kings successfully chased down a 180-plus target for the first time in the Indian Premier League since 2018.
CSK vs LSG: Scorecard | Highlights
Pant also had an over from Shahbaz Ahmed, who ended with figures of 2-30 in three overs, but instead chose to give the final over to part-time bowler Aiden Markram. LSG, in a must-win game, eventually went down by five wickets as Prashant Veer smashed 14 runs off the first two balls of the final over. LSG needed to defend 10 runs in the last over.
“That came to my mind,” Pant said after the game when asked about not giving the final over to Shahbaz. “But with two left-handers in the middle, it was a tough call. Aiden has done it many times for us in the past. That was the call I had to take.”
Pant had the option to use Markram earlier when spin basher Shivam Dube was yet to come to the crease, but he instead persisted with his fast bowlers, leaving him with limited options at the end.
CSK BREAKS CHASE JINX
LSG had posted a mammoth total of 203 while batting first, thanks to a 33-ball 85 from Australian wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis and a 25-ball 43 from Shahbaz at the death.
“The way we started, we would have liked to get more. But at the same time, we felt close to 200-210 would be a good total. We knew it was getting difficult after the powerplay,” Pant added.
Chennai Super Kings last chased a 180-plus target in 2018 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and since then the team had repeatedly failed to complete a big chase. However, a joint-fastest fifty by Urvil Patelwhich included eight sixes, meant CSK had a chance to break their seven-year jinx.
“Urvil played a fantastic and unbelievable knock like Inglis did for us,” Pant added.
In the end, Urvil did not stay till the finish, scoring 65 off 23 balls, but a stuttering CSK middle order ensured they crossed the line with balls to spare. This win means CSK has now gone fifth on the points table, while LSG have officially been eliminated from the play-off contention. CSK and LSG face each other again in 4 days time at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on May 15.
IPL 2026 | IPL Schedule | IPL Points Table | IPL Player Stats | Purple Cap | Orange Cap | IPL Videos | Cricket News | Live Score
– Ends
Source link
[ad_3]
