Chennai Super Kings vs Lucknow Super Giants, 53rd Match, Indian Premier League 2026 - CommentaryCSK vs LSG, 53rd Match, Indian Premier League 2026 - Commentary

Two fantastic knocks from Inglis and Urvil. Batting got tougher as the ball got old. LSG erred in the field as they dropped as many as three catches. And they cost them big. CSK are gaining the momentum at the right moment. It's been another disappointing season for LSG. That's it from this game which lasted more than 4 hours. Switch tabs to follow RCB vs MI. See you there.

Jamie Overton | Player of the Match: It felt good. Bit tight at the end. Nice to get over the line and get another two points. (On his bowling) I think it was just doing what I've been doing well. Just keep hitting top of the stumps and trying to make them hit good balls off the top of the stumps. Nice to get a sort of strangle from the leg-side. Nice to get a couple of wickets and obviously to get Josh out at that point was crucial. All the time I work with Eric (Simons). I think for me, my action, I did it a couple of times today where I fall off and bowl a couple down the leg side. That's just sort of how I do things. And it's definitely been a big work on since coming this year. Even in the World Cup, it's just trying to clean up everything. And I think working out how to bowl over in India is very different than bowling everywhere else in the world. (His mindset when the batters are aggressive) I think it's relatively easy. It's just trying to keep doing what you do well. Try not to get too involved in what the batter's doing. They play good shots. They hit good balls for six and four. As long as you can control what you can and that's hitting top of stumps and smashing my errors, then the rest of it is out of my control and just trying to keep it as simple as I can. (On his fitness) Feeling good. I feel like I've niggles here and there, but yeah, we'll keep pushing on.

Gaikwad (2/2): We knew that once the ball is getting older, it's gonna be tough for the new batter to come in and play some shots. Overall, we knew it was a good wicket, but still, anywhere around 220 would have been really happy chasing, but I think the way they were playing, it looked like 240 or 250, but to come down to 200 or it was a great effort. The bounce was good, the wicket was coming on really nicely and plus, shorter side one end, so I think 220 or 230, would have been par. (On the break after two wins) Well, some of the guys need that break. It's been hot in this side of the country and it's humid, so it's really tough to play in this heat for 20 overs. Most of them are playing here for the first time. So we needed that break and whatever break we have, we are going to take it in. But we are gonna be making sure that we are ticking the boxes in whatever time we have in the practice sessions and making sure that we improve whatever we want to in every department possible. We worked on quite a few areas this break and I think it came off really well. Still three games to go, but it is just about keeping it simple, keeping it simple as long as possible. I know it's easy to say at times when you're under the pressure or under the pump, but that's our mantra and we are going to stick to it.

Ruturaj Gaikwad (1/2): Yes (got too close), but at the end, chasing 200, when you start the innings, it will always go to the 18th or the 19th or the 20th over. We started off really well in the powerplay, but it was a bit tacky for a new batter to just go in and play the shots. But it's important that we got the job done. It's been a while since we chased 200, so good to chase it. Huge credit and hats off to Josh. I think he played some amazing shots, which we actually didn't have any answer to and you can't quite plan for it or you can't quite set field for it. He just played an amazing knock. Hats off to him. But after the first time-out, Sanju just came in and he said, if we have it in us, we have to make a comeback here and try and restrict them as low as possible. So whatever around 220, it was still fine. So I think that just pumped us everyone. And after that, it was just about getting those wickets, slowly getting into the game. So I think everyone was eager to make a comeback after the first time-out and I feel that's the commitment or that determination really changed the course of the game. It was just about getting your bowlers right, how you can attack from one end, how you can be defensive from one end. And we thought, they were very much ahead, 15, 20 or 30 runs ahead after powerplay. So we thought, let's get our best bowlers for the next three or four overs and see how it goes after that. And I think that six to ten overs, Noor and Jamie bowled really well. They just pulled it back really well.

CSK’s run-chase
Overs 1-8: 121/1 at 15.125 RPO (4s/6s: 7/12)
Overs 9-19.2: 87/4 at 7.67 RPO (4s/6s: 3/4)

CSK chasing 180 or more in the IPL since 2019
Matches: 16
Win: 2 - vs KKR, Kolkata, 2025 (T: 180) and today
Defeats: 14

Before today, barring CSK, each of the nine other teams had gunned
down a 200-plus target at least once in the IPL since 2023.

Highest targets chased down by CSK
206 vs RCB, Chennai, 2012
206 vs RCB, Bengaluru, 2018
204 vs LSG, Chennai, 2026
203 vs KKR, Chennai, 2018
193 vs PBKS, Dharamsala, 2014

Urvil Patel - There was nothing in my mind, but I just wanted to bat according to the situation and the ball. The coach just told me to maintain a stable base and then hit, I did the same. Rutu said the wicket was low and to be ready for it. He didn't tell me much; he just let me play my game.

Rishabh Pant | LSG captain - Definitely. I think it was a great game. Everything was coming out nicely. We knew we were going to put enough pressure on in the power play because when you practice like that, that's the kind of cricket you look forward to. But at the same time, I feel like there was enough time. In T20 cricket, the fielding standards have to be up there. Too many catches dropped and  like you said, but it's difficult to put it on just one thing. But a lot of character shown to comeback from there was really good (on Urvil's knock). That's the only thing. Urvil played a fantastic, unbelievable knock like Inglis for us, we knew in the power play, someone has to take that charge and that's what Inglis did for us. And for CSK, it was Urvil. But at the same time, the team showed a lot of character. Definitely some areas where we can work out, but kudos to CSK. They held on to their nerves better than us. Definitely, given how we started, we would have liked to aim for more, but we knew close to 200, 210 would be a good target. they got off to a flier in the power play. But at the same time, we knew that it was getting difficult and after the power play, the ball was getting older and it was sort of difficult to bat on the wicket. That came to my mind (on using Shahbaz in the final over), but two lefties batting, it was a tough call to have. You've got to back someone who can just go over us and again, as Markram for a lot of times for us in the past years also.

19:39 Local Time, 14:09 GMT: Tense finish, the hosts prevail, CSK move to the fifth position and LSG are out of the playoffs race now! First time since 2019, CSK have successfully chased down a 180+ target. Inserted to bat, Josh Inglis played a blinder as LSG scored 91 runs in the powerplay. But CSK pulled things back beautifully to restrict the visitors to 203. In reply, Sanju Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad got off to a brisk start. Rathi cleaned up the former and in walked Urvil Patel at 3. The 27-year-old Gujarati came all guns blazing. This is how he got going - 6 6 6 6 6 4 6 - and CSK ended up scoring 97 runs in the powerplay. He smashed a 13-ball fifty (joint fastest fifty in IPL) and went after almost everything in his 23-ball knock of 65 which included 2 fours and 8 sixes. When he got out, CSK's asking rate was around 7 RPO and the run-chase seemed like a formality. But LSG fought back. Shahbaz Ahmed picked up a couple of wickets, Rathi cleaned up Brevis and when Avesh Khan removed Kartik. CSK surprisingly Veer as the Impact sub in the 17th over ahead of Overton. With 21 needed off the last 2 overs, Avesh bowled the penultimate over and LSG dropped two catches in two balls. Prashant Veer hit a six in the same over and then Dube wrapped up the proceedings with back-to-back sixes against Markram as CSK crossed the line with 4 balls to spare.

Shahbaz Ahmed has an over left but with two left-handers out in the middle, Pant gives the ball to Markram. 10 needed off 6 deliveries

Most appearances in the IPL
278 - MS Dhoni
278 - Virat Kohli
278 - Rohit Sharma