Mumbai, Mar 31 (UNI): Robin Uthappa and Shivam Dube scored big as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) posted 210/7, batting first against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at Brabourne Stadium here on Thursday.
Uthappa set it up at the top with a whirlwind 50 off just 27 balls and then Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja (17 off 9) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (16 no off 6) gave the finishing touches. Uthappa and Moeen Ali laid a perfect foundation after CSK.
The team belted 73 runs in the powerplay and lost Ruturaj Gaikwad’s wicket as he was runout on 1 after facing 4 balls. Uthappa brought up his fifty off just 27 balls, hitting eight fours and a maximum. He was trapped LBW by Ravi Bishnoi right after completing his half-century.
CSK raced to hundred in 9.1 overs after Moeen got a streaky boundary down to short third man. The fastest for any team in this year’s IPL. Moeen was cleaned up by Avesh Khan on 35 (22). Rayudu (27 off 20) along with Dube (49 off 30) then added a crucial partnership of 60 runs for the fourth wicket, before it was broken by Bishnoi as he dismissed Rayudu in the 17th over.
Dhoni began by smacking the first two balls he faced for six and a boundary. In fact, that was the first time in IPL that Dhoni smashed a six on the first ball he faced. He wrapped up the innings with yet another four as CSK finished on a high note. Bishnoi (2 for 24) was stand out bowler for LSG as he performed better than others, whose bowling went over 9 per over on a track that was not helping the bowlers due to early dew.
He ended up with six per over. It was not Dushmantha Chameera’s night. He misfielded twice and conceded boundaries. Next he put down a simple chance from Dube. The dew hasn’t helped LSG either. The umpires had to change the ball due to dampness.
Meanwhile, LSG made one change in their playing XI, with Andrew Tye coming in place of Mohsin Khan. CSK made three changes as Moeen was included in the XI after missing the opener against KKR and Dwaine Pretorius and Mukesh Chaudhary marked their debut for yellow army.
