Lucknow Tremendous Giants 211 for 4 (de Kock 61, Lewis 55*, Rahul 40, Pretorius 2-31) beat Chennai Tremendous Kings 210 for 7 (Uthappa 50, Dube 49, Bishnoi 2-24) by six wickets
Earlier, Tremendous Kings by no means took their foot off the pedal after being put in. Robin Uthappa struck a 27-ball 50, which included eight fours and a six, and Shivam Dube smashed 49 off 30 to assist the aspect to a formidable 210 for 7.
Tremendous Kings, although, have been conscious it wasn’t essentially a profitable complete. The situations have been dewy – the umpires modified the ball in each innings – and Tremendous Kings have been with out Adam Milne, who missed out due to a aspect pressure.
It got here right down to Tremendous Giants needing 34 from the final two overs. Ravindra Jadeja then handed the ball to Dube, who hadn’t bowled till then. And it confirmed. Badoni began the over by transferring throughout and sweeping him over sq. leg for six. The subsequent two deliveries have been wides, and the final three have been proper within the slot for Lewis, who smashed them for 4, 4, 6.
With 9 wanted from the ultimate over, Mukesh Choudhary additionally bowled two wides earlier than Badoni pulled him over backward sq. leg to stage the scores. Two balls later, he hit the profitable run to offer Tremendous Giants their first win.
Uthappa, Moeen give Tremendous Kings blazing begin
Rahul had a giant smile on his face after profitable the toss nevertheless it did not final lengthy as Uthappa hit Avesh Khan for 2 fours on the primary two balls of the innings. That set the tone of the innings.
Two balls later, Avesh pinged Uthappa on the helmet however when he tried one other bouncer, to finish the over with, it sailed over for 4 byes. Within the second over, Uthappa flicked Dushmantha Chameera, first for a six after which for a 4, and by the tip of two overs, Tremendous Kings had 26 on the board.
Ravi Bishnoi’s brilliance within the area – a direct hit from backward level to expire Ruturaj Gaikwad – did give Tremendous Giants the breakthrough however not the respite. Uthappa continued in the identical vein, putting 4 fours in Andrew Tye’s one over, and Moeen Ali, who had opened his account with a hooked six off Avesh, smashed 4, 6, 4 off Krunal Pandya’s successive balls. On the finish of the powerplay, Tremendous Kings have been 73 for 1.
Dube retains the fireworks going
Bishnoi as soon as once more supplied the breakthrough, this time by trapping Uthappa lbw with the one which skidded off the floor and beat the batter with the tempo. However Dube, promoted to No. 4, saved the scoreboard racing. He hit Chameera for 3 fours in 4 balls, and Tremendous Kings crossed 100 in simply 9.1 overs.
Moeen fell to Avesh for 35 however with the dew set in by now, it did not get any simpler for Tremendous Giants. Dube’s hitting, coupled with some sloppy fielding, meant runs saved flowing.
Rahul launched Deepak Hooda into the assault however Dube did not maintain again even towards the offspinner, hitting him for a 4 and a six. His innings got here to an finish when he holed out to long-on off Avesh whereas making an attempt one other huge hit.
Dhoni applies the of entirety
MS Dhoni got here to the crease with Tremendous Kings 189 for 4 in 18.2 overs and straightway forehanded Avesh over additional cowl for a six. It was the primary time within the IPL that he hit a six off the primary ball he confronted. The subsequent ball he carved over backward level for one-bounce 4. Tye dismissed Jadeja and Dwaine Pretorius off successive balls within the last over however Dhoni wrapped up the innings with yet one more 4, which additionally introduced him 7000 runs in T20 cricket.
Rahul, de Kock begin in type
Tremendous Giants wanted a fast begin, and Rahul and de Kock gave them precisely that. Towards the inexperienced new-ball pair of Choudhary and Tushar Deshpande, they hit eight fours and two sixes within the first 5 overs.
Jadeja turned to Bravo for the sixth over and he virtually eliminated de Kock however Moeen dropped a simple catch at mid-off. The subsequent three overs featured two sixes, three fours, and Deshpande shelling a troublesome likelihood off Moeen to reprieve Rahul. On the midway stage, de Kock was on 51 off 35 balls, Rahul on 40 off 35 and Tremendous Giants on 98.
Lewis steers Tremendous Giants house
Pretorius ended the opening stand by dismissing Rahul, with Ambati Rayudu working sideway from backward sq. leg and taking the catch over his shoulder. Manish Pandey fell quickly after, which left Tremendous Giants needing 97 from the final eight overs.
Lewis hit Deshpande for a 4 and 6 to maintain the asking charge below management, however Pretorius struck once more – de Kock top-edged a pull and Dhoni settled below the swirler.
Lewis and Hooda saved the chase alive, each muscled a boundary every off Dwayne Bravo within the sixteenth over. Pretorius gave away solely 9 within the seventeenth and Bravo, after getting hit for a six, despatched again Hooda within the 18th. Tremendous Kings might need fancied their probabilities at that stage however a 25-run penultimate over by Dube dashed their hopes.
Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
