In the 30th match of IPL 2025, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) secured a five-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), marking CSK’s second win in seven matches while LSG suffered its third loss. The match took place at Ekana Stadium, where LSG batted first after losing the toss, scoring 166 runs for seven wickets.
Captain Rishabh Pant led with 63 runs, supported by Mitchell Marsh (30), Ayush Badoni (22), and Abdul Samad (20). For CSK, Ravindra Jadeja and Matheesha Pathirana each took two wickets, while Khalil Ahmed and Anshul Kamboj claimed one each. In their chase of 167 runs, CSK started strong with 52 runs in five overs but faced a mini-collapse with key wickets falling.
Despite this, captain MS Dhoni and Shivam Dube guided the team to victory with three balls left, with Dube unbeaten at 43 and Dhoni contributing 26 runs. Lucknow’s Ravi Bishnoi took two wickets, while others claimed one each.
Player of the Match: MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni reflected on the win, emphasizing its importance in a tournament context and the confidence it brings, despite challenges faced previously. He noted that the team struggled during the powerplay in bowling but performed better in the middle and death overs, managing to restrict the opposition to a decent total. Dhoni highlighted the early batting struggles and the concerning fall of wickets, attributing some difficulties to the slower Chennai wickets. He mentioned that the batting unit has performed better away from home and stressed the need for the batting group to express themselves. Acknowledging the bowling unit’s relative success, he pointed out that adjustments were made to improve their powerplay effectiveness, relieving pressure on Ash who was heavily utilized during that phase. He concluded that while the bowling attack improved, there remains room for growth in batting performance moving forward in the tournament.
