A fighting half-century by young batter Ayush Badoni guided a struggling Lucknow Super Giants to 125/7 in 19.2 overs against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match before the action was called off due to rain in Lucknow on Wednesday.
Both teams have been awarded a point each. LSG are in second place with five wins, four losses and a match that produced no result. They have a total of 11 points. CSK also has 11 points and a similar win-loss record, but LSG are up in the table due to superior net-run-rate. After being put to bat first by CSK, LSG struggled without their regular skipper KL Rahul. Manan Vohra opened with Kyle Mayers but the duo failed to speed up their scoring rate in the powerplay.
Spinner Moeen Ali delivered the first wicket for CSK, dismissing Mayers for 14 (17 balls) as the batter was trying to slog, but was caught by Ruturaj Gaikwad at long-on. LSG were 18/1 in 3.4 overs.
LSG’s spin woes continued as Maheesh Theekshana cleared Manan for 10 (11 balls) and stand-in skipper Krunal Pandya was also caught at slips by Ajinkya Rahane for a golden duck, sinking LSG to 27/3 in 5.5 overs. At the end of six overs and the powerplay, LSG were 31/3, with Marcus Stoinis (4*) and Karan Sharma (3*) unbeaten.
In the very next over, Ravindra Jadeja got among wickets as well, dismissing Stoinis for six. LSG were 34/4 in 6.5 overs.
Following that, in-form Nicholas Pooran and Karan tried to build a partnership. But a caught-and-bowl dismissal from Moeen Ali put an end to Karan’s innings at nine (16 balls). Half of LSG’s line-up was back in the hut for 44 runs in 9.4 overs.
At the end of 10 overs, LSG was at 44/5, with Ayush Badoni (0*) and Pooran (5*) unbeaten.
LSG crossed the 50-run mark in 11.3 overs. Pooran and Badoni then started to build a partnership for LSG.