Chennai Super Kings (CSK) easily achieved the challenging target of 204 runs against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on May 10. With this win, CSK moved up to fifth in the 10-team league and made the race for the play-offs more competitive. The season is over for Lucknow Super Giants.
The LSG camp rejoiced when Sanju Samson went back into the hut at the start of the second innings. So far, Samson has appeared as the main man for CSK in their batting. Taking the wicket of an in-form batsman early in the innings was a big thing for the Rishabh Pant-led team.
CSK has performed brilliantly in its batting.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and his boys are now refreshed and have regained their enthusiasm after a poor start to the ongoing Indian Premier League season. Samson’s departure did not cause any major loss to CSK, as they performed well with the bat as a team. They crossed the target with two balls remaining and won the match by 5 wickets.
Urvil Patel’s quickfire 65 off 23 balls and captain Gaikwad’s well-played 42 runs set the tone for Chennai Super Kings. Later, brief innings from other middle-order batsmen proved enough to defeat Lucknow Super Giants.
Highest target chased 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, Dharamshala, 2014
LSG captain explains why they lost to CSK
After the match, LSG captain Rishabh Pant said that it was a pressure game and CSK responded brilliantly. Pant was not happy with his fielding standards as he dropped several catches at crucial moments of the contest.
He praised CSK’s emerging batsman Urvil Patel for his brilliant batting in the run chase. Rishabh Pant also mentioned that they could have scored a few more runs on the scoreboard. After the defeat, LSG became the first team to be eliminated from IPL 2026.
Rishabh Pant is not happy with the team’s performance
“Definitely, it was a great game. Everything was going well, we knew they would put us under pressure, as they do in Chennai. In T20, it’s important to have fielding standards, with a lot of catches dropped. Urvil played a brilliant, incredible innings for us, like Inglis did. We knew someone had to attack, Inglis for us, Urvil for him,” Rishabh Pant said at the presentation ceremony.
“They kept a better grip on their emotions than us. Of course, given the way we started, we would have liked to have more targets, but we knew that closer to 200, 210 would be a good target. They stepped up in the power play. But at the same time, we knew it was getting difficult and after the power play, the ball was getting old and the wicket was becoming difficult to bat.”
“It did come to my mind (to use Shahbaz in the final over), but with two left-handers batting, it was a tough decision. You have to back someone who can dominate us again and again, as Markram has done for us many times in the past years as well,” he said.
Read More: IPL Points Table 2026: Updated Standings, Orange Cap, Purple Cap after CSK vs LSG Match 53
