IPL 2024, LSG vs GT: Yash Thakur, Marcus Stoinis shine as Lucknow Super Giants beat Gujarat Titans by 33 runs

In addition to being the first Indian to capture five wickets for LSG, this was his greatest IPL performance. Additionally, it was Lucknow’s first victory over the Titans in five games.

Lucknow, needing to chase 164 to win, got off to a solid start as Sai Sudarshan hit two boundaries off Naveen-ul-Haq in the second over. After bowling his first over, Mayank Yadav left the field immediately due to a side strain. Yadav stepped in to bowl the third over.

Things aren’t going smoothly for LSG tonight and Sudarshan helps himself to two more fours – driven down the ground and whipped through midwicket – before Shubman Gill gets going with a ramp wide of deep third. Mayank’s pace barely got above 140kph in the first over as he left the field straight after completing his first over.

When it seemed like this chase would be simple, Yash Thakur fires one through Gill and into the timber. Full, straight, and cross-seam, it continued to skid as the captain of the Titans tried to flick across the line and got out at 19. Gill’s team was in a good position at 54 for 1 at the conclusion of the powerplay. M Siddharth struggled to bowl as he crossed the bowling line three times in his second and fifth over of the inning, but managed to give only 12 runs. Sudarshan appeared to be in excellent form as he scored 29 from 18 after the end of the seventh over.

LSG was still in the match, but Ravi Bishnoi had a great return catch to dismiss Titans’ impact sub, Kane Williamson, who chipped one back to the bowler and was out for one from four deliveries. Bishnoi leaped to his right and held out one arm, just hanging on as he banged into the turf. Williamson was undoubtedly the one targeted to lead a modest pursuit on a sticky surface, but he left on a cheap note.

After both Sai Sudarshan and BS Sharath holed out in Krunal Pandya’s opening over, the game took a dramatic turn. Wicketkeeper Sharath, who replaced Wriddhiman Saha, top-edged a sweep to a deep backward square. Bishnoi made another catch, but this time, Sudarshan was removed with a far easier catch on the deep square boundary. Being the team’s top scorer with 31 points from 23 deliveries, Sudarshan left. In the end, Krunal had three for eleven.

With Yash Thakur’s illustrious arm and 72 needed in 36 balls, LSG was desperate to finish the game soon. He reappeared on his second over after dismissing Gill early in the innings, and Rashid Khan(0) chipped to cover a slower ball, while Vijay Shankar (17) was caught behind swiping at a short ball. Rahul Tewatia and Spencer Johnson added 24 runs in 17 deliveries for the ninth wicket but Thakur bowling his last over of the spell claimed a five-for giving away 30 runs in 3.5 overs dismissing Tewatia (30) and Noor Ahmad (0).

Earlier batting first on their home ground, Lucknow suffered an early setback as opener Quinton de Kock got out after opening his account with a six to Umesh Yadav. Not a start that Lucknow would have thought of as Umesh was all over the Lucknow batters in the powerplay.

Devdutt Padikkal, who came to bat at number three was the second wicket of Yadav. Umesh bowled a back of a length delivery in the channel, nipping away with the angle and Padikkal was enticed into wafting at it. Padikkal got a thick outside edge and Shankar snaffled it up at wide slip, low to his left. Padikkal got out after scoring 7 runs in 7 deliveries. LSG ended on 47 for 2 after the end of the powerplay as Stoinis and Rahul started building the innings.

Titans came with an attacking bowling plan on a damp pitch which saw an uneven bounce right from the start of the match. They bowled on the hard length and kept the ball away from both batters. Rahul, who loves to play cut and drive shots, suffered difficulties in scoring against Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad. Mohit Sharma on the other hand mixed his pace well without giving much room to score. It was a good display of bowling from the Titans’ bowlers as LSG after the end of ten overs scored 74 for two with Rahul and Stoinis finding difficulties in scoring boundaries.

From 18 for 2 in the third over, the third-wicket pairing of Rahul and Stoinis had bolted together a stocky partnership worth 73 from 62 balls – but LSG’s skipper departed trying to take on Darshan Nalkande, brought on at fourth change by Titans. Rahul was looking to hit down the ground but it didn’t come on to the bat and he was well held by Rahul Tewatia several yards in from the rope at long-on. A score of 33 off 31, with only three boundaries with a strike rate of 106.45.

After Nalkande bowled his second over of the day, Stoinis responded with a clean swing across the line in his fourth over. Stoinis began to shift gears and scored his first IPL 2024 half-century in 40 deliveries. But Nalkande persisted, and when Stoinis top-edged a hoick straight up and left after scoring 58 off 43 deliveries, he made his second breakthrough of the evening. Titans were good at keeping things under wraps. In all the IPL games where he has scored 50 runs or more, it was Stoinis’ second-worst inning.

In his four overs, Noor Ahmed gave up just one boundary at a cost of 22 runs; nevertheless, he should have also claimed a wicket, as Stoinis was removed after a mishit on 43. After 15 overs, LSG was 114 for 4, and it was challenging to get a high score for LSG because Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran were the two new batsmen at the crease. With a six from Poorand and two consecutive boundaries from Badoni, Mohit Sharma gave up 17 runs in his second-to-last over of the innings.

After hitting two fours from Mohit Sharma in the previous over, Ayush Badoni attempted a slog-sweep but could only manage to pick out deep midwicket, giving Rashid Khan his first wicket of the evening.

But, Pooran was able to eventually get a hand on the Titans’ champion leg-spinner, Krunal Pandya, as he was off strike, striking a massive blow to the leg side. Sai Sudharsan may have scored another boundary against Rashid if he hadn’t performed so well with the long-on rope. LSG reached 163 for 7 in 20 overs after raising their 150 with one over remaining.

Brief Score: Lucknow Super Giants 163 for 5 in 20 overs (Marcus Stoinis 58, KL Rahul 33; Darshan Nalkande 2-21, Umesh Yadav 2-22) beat Gujarat Titans (Sai Sudarshan 31, Rahul Tewatia 30; Yash Thakur 5-30, Krunal Pandya 3-11) by 33 runs.