Lewis pulls off heist for LSG; CSK winless after two

The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) defeated the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the seventh game of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). The match was played in the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Evin Lewis was adjudged to be the Man of the Match.

Bishnoi impresses despite dew

The CSK batters came out all guns blazing, breaking any sort of rustiness that they had presented in their opening match against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Robin Uthappa, who was promoted as an opener, struck consecutive boundaries off the first two balls of the innings, a statement that would be repeated by virtually every other batter.

The pitch at Brabourne provided bounce and good carry through to the wicketkeeper. Thus, Kananur Lokesh Rahul, the LSG skipper, quickly had to turn to Krunal Pandya to try and combat with spin. Yet, by the end of the powerplay, CSK had already reached 73/1. Yet,when Ravi Bishnoi was handed the ball, he held his nerve, and dismissed the dangerous Uthappa for 50 with just his third ball of the match.

By the time Bishnoi was called up for a second spell, a lot of dew had settled on the ground, meaning the ball was slipping out of fielders’ and bowlers’ hands alike. However, the young leg spinner maintained discipline and got rid of Ambati Rayudu, who was keeping the scoreboard ticking for the men in yellow.

On a night where all his peers went at an excess of 9.5 runs per over, Bishnoi’s economy rate stood at 6 after his four overs.

Pretorius has a memorable debut

South African Dwaine Pretorius made his IPL debut with CSK on Thursday and impressed.

With LSG chasing 211 runs, their openers, Rahul and Quinton de Kock, had played with freedom, going for the jugular of CSK bowlers after a cautionary start. Pretorius broke the near-century stand with the dismissal of Rahul, and dismissed his countryman, de Kock, as well.

To add further misery, Pretorius remained economical on a belter of a pitch with the dew factor against his favour, going at less than 8 runs per over. When he had finished his spell, he had left LSG requiring 46 runs off the last 3 overs, a position that put CSK in control of most things.

Lewis ups the ante

Even after the solid platform Rahul and de Kock had set, the target was still a long way away for LSG. Yet, Evin Lewis never seemed to lose hope.

The Trinidadian’s assault began in the 14th over, when 89 runs were still required for victory. Lewis and de Kock managed to steal 15 runs off the over and, even after the latter fell, another 12 with the assistance of Deepak Hooda off a Dwayne Bravo over.

Lewis delivered the sucker punch with the last three balls of the penultimate over of the innings, which he thumped for a four, another four, and a six respectively. Those three blows meant the batter reached 55 of 23 balls, while almost surely secured the game for the Super Giants.

Dube’s penultimate over

The penultimate over in any cricket match, is considered the most crucial over; it can either make or break a team’s hopes of winning. The CSK skipper, Ravindra Jadeja, did not want to risk having a spinner bowl with the wet ball and so turned to Dube. Dube, who had played a fantastic knock in the Super Kings’ innings, was brimming with confidence, especially with the equation for LSG standing at 34 required off 12 balls.

However, all that soon changed, with Ayush Badoni lapping him for a six off the first ball. Dube seemed shaken by that soon after, bowling two consecutive wides. However, the carnage began and ended in the last three balls of the over, which Lewis pummelled for fourteen runs combined. All in all, Dube had conceded 25 runs off the over. The task of defending 9 runs off the final over fell to Mukesh Thakur, but Badoni finished the game for LSG, with 3 balls to spare.

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