Lewis, Badoni help LSG seal maiden IPL win with victory over CSK

With 34 required in two overs, Badoni and Lewis went after Shivam Dube, bowling the 19th, his first in the match. Badoni's paddled-six started the onslaught, and Lewis took over as the six balls produced 25 runs and virtually sealed the fate of the match.

Evin Lewis spearheaded Lucknow's thrilling run chase with an inspiring fifty.

No doubt, the boundaries at the Cricket Club of India’s Brabourne Stadium were small. No doubt the conditions were tilted towards batters, with the dew making the ball as wet as in a bucketful of water. Still, a team had to bat out of its skin to get to 211 against the defending champion.

Lucknow Super Giants did just that on Thursday night. The IPL newbies couldn’t have asked for a better opposition to register their maiden win.

The protagonists of the chase were left-handed batters, Quinton de Kock and Evin Lewis. De Kock made the most of a dropped catch by Moeen Ali at mid-off off Dwayne Bravo in the PowerPlay to set the foundation with a well-compiled 61 (45b, 9x4). Lewis then capitalised on it with an unbeaten fifty (55 n.o, 23b, 6x4, 3x6).

As it happened:

Captain K.L. Rahul, who shared a 99-run partnership at the top with de Kock, played the perfect supporting role along with Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni, with the pocket dynamo’s two sixes helping the Super Giants cross the line with three balls to spare.

Super Kings tried to stretch the game deep by bowling out three of its four primary pacers, including the death-over specialist Dwayne Bravo, in the 18th over. With 34 required in two overs, Badoni and Lewis went after Shivam Dube, bowling the 19th, his first in the match. Badoni's paddled-six started the onslaught, and Lewis took over as the six balls produced 25 runs and virtually sealed the fate of the match.

Earlier in the evening, the Super Kings batting came good after faltering in the tournament-opener versus Kolkata Knight Riders. Barring Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was run out by Ravi Bishnoi’s direct hit, every Super Kings batter hammered a hapless Super Giants attack as the defending champion put on 210 for seven.

Robin Uthappa, opening the innings in Devon Conway’s absence, revelled in the position that he most enjoys batting at. The first two balls of the innings saw Uthappa flicking and cutting Avesh Khan to the fence. It set the tone for the rest of the innings as Uthappa raced to a 25-ball fifty before being undone by Bishnoi’s quick googly.

The left-handed duo of Moeen and Shivam Dube came good, finding the gaps and clearing the fence at will. While Dube hit the top-tier of the CCI pavilion with a six, Rayudu struck the roof at the other end to give a capacity crowd many reasons to rejoice.

Barring Bishnoi, who bowled an immaculate spell of 2/24, no other Super Giants could impress until Andrew Tye picked two wickets in the last over. But Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whose first-ball six over covers off Avesh in the penultimate over was one of the highlights of the evening, finished the innings on a high with a cut that sailed over short third. However Lucknow had the last laugh.