Lucknow Super Giants have effectively slipped out of playoff contention after going down by five wickets to Chennai Super Kings at the Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday evening. LSG defended a competitive total of 203, but it was Urvil Patel’s aggressive batting that proved decisive. The bigger concern for Lucknow was what happened in the field—three dropped catches. If even one of those chances had been taken, the outcome could have swung, and Rishabh Pant pointedly underlined that after the match.
Post-match thoughts and the turning point in the field
Pant, representing the losing side at the presentation, felt the game slipped away despite LSG getting into a good rhythm early. He also stressed that in T20 cricket, dropped chances can quickly become match-defining.
“Definitely, it was a great game. Everything was coming nicely, we knew they’d put us under pressure, as that’s how it happens in Chennai. In T20s, fielding standards have to be there, too many dropped catches,” said the LSG captain.
Urvil Patel’s batting heroics have also been the headline, and Pant acknowledged the challenge posed by a batter who simply kept finding momentum. He compared the impact to the way someone like Josh Inglis had taken the fight to the opposition in a similar context, while also admitting that LSG fought to their best even after the momentum shifted.
Urvil Patel’s record run and the missed catches
Patel reached a major milestone during his knock, becoming the joint-fastest batter to fifty in IPL history. He achieved the landmark in just 13 balls, matching Rajasthan Royals opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s mark from 2023 against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Across 65 runs off 23 deliveries, Urvil struck five consecutive maximums, showcasing raw power and confidence. However, the match narrative also includes costly moments in the field for Lucknow. Urvil was dropped after completing his fifty by Digvesh Rathi, and in the penultimate over of the innings—bowled by Avesh Khan—Prashant Veer was let off twice in quick succession. First, Rathi failed to hold the chance, and then West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran also missed a catch off back-to-back deliveries.
Pant highlighted why those lapses mattered, but he also made it clear that the opposition’s attacking intent was real. “Urvil played a fantastic and unbelievable knock, like Josh Inglis [85 off 33 balls] for us. We knew someone had to take the attack, Inglis for us, Urvil for them. But we kept fighting and had our chances,” said Pant.
LSG’s innings: a strong start, then a middle-order drop-off
Reflecting on Lucknow’s own batting, Pant felt they should have posted more than 203. He acknowledged that the opening phase went well, but once the middle overs tightened, runs became harder to come by—leaving them short of the ideal score range.
“The way we started, we wanted more, but we knew close to 200-210 was good. It was easy to bat at the start, and then it became difficult,” Pant said.
With that context, the dropped chances in the field take on even greater significance. LSG felt that the runs they failed to add due to a middle-order struggle ultimately came back to haunt them when Chennai chased.
Chennai’s chase and the final over decision
Aiden Markram finished the job for Chennai in the last over, with CSK needing 10 runs to win. The over began with two wides, but Shivam Dube struck back-to-back sixes off Markram to swing the contest decisively. Chennai sealed the chase with four balls to spare.
When asked whether he had Shahbaz Ahmed in mind for the final over before going with Markram, the Indian player responded: “That thought did occur, but they had two left-handed batters, and Markram had done the job before.”
