LSG vs CSK: 'MS Dhoni walked in and pressure got to the bowlers' - KL Rahul's honest admission after win

KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) defeated the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 34th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) on Friday, April 19, at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.

Winning the toss and opting to bowl first in the match, LSG managed to dismiss Rachin Ravindra for a duck and Ruturaj Gaikwad for 17. However, Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja played crucial innings for CSK before Moeen Ali made significant contributions. In the end, LSG bowlers were at the receiving end of an MS Dhoni onslaught as the CSK legend slammed 28 runs off 9 balls and took his team to a total of 176/6.

For Lucknow Super Giants, Krunal Pandya picked up two wickets while Marcus Stoinis, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Thakur, and Mohsin Khan bagged one wicket each.

Chasing the target, KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock provided LSG with a remarkable start. De Kock (54) and Rahul (82) didn't finish the match but laid a perfect platform for the win which was capitalized by Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis as LSG won by 8 wickets.

At the post-match presentation ceremony, KL Rahul, who also won the Player of the Match award, said that he was delighted with the way they thumped CSK and lauded his bowlers for executing the plans to perfection. KL Rahul said:

"Feels good at the end of the day. When you win, most decisions feel right. We were committed to our plans. Really happy with that. Depends on the wicket, I deploy my bowlers. We tried to mix it around. The bowlers executed really well. The team is sticking to the plans. Halfway stage, I would have been happy with 160. The wicket was slow and a bit of grip." 

KL Rahul was in awe of MS Dhoni's cameo and said that the wicketkeeper-batsman put pressure on the bowlers. KL Rahul said:

"MSD walked in and the pressure got to the bowlers. He has had the intimidation on opposition bowlers. Our young bowlers were put under pressure with the crowd going berserk as well. 15-20 runs extra they got. I have been trying to assess the situation. It came off today."

KL Rahul revealed that he was ready to face the challenge of CSK spinners and he picked which bowlers he wanted to hit. He also praised his opening partner Quinton de Kock. KL Rahul said:

"I knew the CSK spinners will put the pressure on. I picked my bowlers and it came off. Quinton batted well as well. Made life easy for both. Different ball game playing in Chennai. Was playing in front of mini Chennai crowd. We are a young team and happy to play in front of such a crowd."

Before the match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), LSG were at the fifth position on the Indian Premier League 2024 points table with 3 wins and 6 points. Now, they have retained that spot but 8 points in their bag.

Lucknow Super Giants' Previous 5 Matches Results In The Indian Premier League 2024

In their previous 5 matches in the Indian Premier League 2024, Lucknow Super Giants emerged victorious in three and lost encounters.

On April 14, the KL Rahul & Co. went head-to-head with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and were at the receiving of 8-wicket thrashing. On April 12, Lucknow Super Giants took on the Rishabh Pant-led Delhi Capitals (DC) and faced a 6-wicket defeat.

Before facing the aforementioned defeats, LSG were on a winning streak as they defeated the Shubman Gill-led Gujarat Titans (GT) by 33 runs on April 7, Faf du Plessis-led Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on April 2 by 28 runs, and Shikhar Dhawan-led Punjab Kings (PBKS) on March 30 by 21 runs to register a hat-trick of wins.