A downpour came as a respite for Lucknow Super Giants as it managed to end its sequence of losses at home in the IPL match against Chennai Super Kings at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
Steady rain, which stopped play with four deliveries remaining in the Super Giants innings, didn’t relent, forcing the umpires to call off the match at 7 p.m. The teams got a point each. At the time of interruption, Super Giants had limped to 125 for seven in 19.2 overs.
The Chennai Super Kings spinners tied the Super Giants batters in knots and it needed a brisk knock from Ayush Badoni, who hit four sixes and two fours in his unbeaten 59 off 33 balls, to resurrect the innings.
Scripting a revival
Badoni figured in a 59-run sixth-wicket stand off 48 balls with the uncharacteristically subdued Nicholas Pooran (20) as Super Giants recovered from a precarious position (44 for five) to reach a par total on a sluggish pitch.
Badoni provided the final flourish, smashing 20 off Deepak Chahar’s final over — the penultimate one of the Super Giants innings.
Badoni, after top-edging a four, imperiously pulled Chahar over mid-wicket for a six and struck a maximum over extra-cover.
After the start was delayed by rain, the Super Kings bowlers, especially the tweakers, justified Dhoni’s decision to bowl first by rocking the Super Giants line-up.
The rut started when Kyle Mayers’ attempt to hit Moeen Ali over long-off ended in the hands of Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Maheesh Theekshana’s two in two — he cleaned up Manan Vohra and forced Krunal Pandya to edge to Ajinkya Rahane at slip off the next delivery — pushed Lucknow deeper into trouble. Ravindra Jadeja castled Marcus Stoinis with a ball that spun across and beat the bat, leaving the Australian stunned.
Karan Sharma danced down the track but hit the ball straight back to bowler Moeen. But Badoni rose to the occasion to rescue Super Giants before the heavens opened.
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