The 45th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has been called off due to heavy rain at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.
The toss was won by CSK skipper MS Dhoni and the mastermind captain asked LSG to bat first. Although it looked like the pitch will have something for bowlers, it was mainly LSG batters who underperformed. Moeen Ali, Maheesh Theekshana and others were impressed with the ball which helped them to restrict the home side to just 125 runs in 20 overs.
Manan Vohra (10) and Kyle Mayers (14) batted well but were unable to build on their start. Ayush Badoni (59*) was the only middle-order batter who could contribute meaningful runs. In his innings, the youngster smashed two fours and four sixes and appeared to be playing on a different pitch. Nicholas Pooran (20) also contributed a few runs, helping LSG to reach a decent total on this slow-pace wicket.
For CSK with the ball, Moeen Ali, Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana grabbed two wickets each while Ravindra Jadeja also plucked one wicket. Although the four-time IPL winners were massively impressive on the day, it was unfortunate for them that the game had to be abandoned.
The game commenced after a 15-minute interruption owing to a wet outfield, and rain reappeared in the final over of the first innings to end the proceedings. Both teams will now share one point each. With the constant rain, even the minimum five overs of CSK innings were impossible.
Scorecard:
Lucknow Super Giants: 125/7, Overs 20, Ayush Badoni 59*, Moeen Ali 2/13