‘Humara raaj hai yaha’ – Fans react as Chennai defeat Lucknow by 12 runs to open their account in Indian T20 League 2023

Published on April 4, 2023

After losing their opening fixture against the Gujarat franchise by five wickets, the Chennai franchise is locking horns with Lucknow in the sixth fixture of the 2023 edition of the Indian T20 League (ITL) at the M.A. Chidambaram, in Chennai on Monday, April 3.

For Chennai, Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad walked out to the center to start the innings. The fresh ball was in Kyle Mayers’ hands, but there was a little delay as a dog entered the field and the grounds crew made an effort to remove it. They finally succeeded in doing so, and the game began.

The Lucknow franchise skipper, KL Rahul won the toss and elected to bowl first after. After almost 4 years, Chennai will play their first home game, and MS Dhoni, the home team skipper will be the center of attention. To lead the points table, Lucknow will aim to secure their second straight victory in the competition.

Batting first, Chennai openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway built up a stunning partnership of 110 runs off just 55 balls before the former was sent back to the pavilion by England’s ace pacer Mark Wood after scoring a total of 57 runs off 31 balls, which included three fours and four sixes. The New Zealand opener also scored crucial 47 runs from 29 balls with five fours and two sixes.

Star India batters, Shivam Dube and Ambati Rayudu played small but important knocks for the Chennai franchise. The former scored 27 runs off 16 balls with one four and three sixes, whereas on the other hand, the latter scored an unbeaten knock of 27 runs from 14 balls with two fours and two sixes.

MS Dhoni also played a quickfire knock of 12 runs off just three ball he faced in the last over which included two brilliant sixes. With these two sixes, he completed his 5000 runs in Indian T20 League and became seventh, overall, to do this in the cash-rich league.

For the visitors, the pick of the bowler was was Wood and Ravi Bishnoi, who snapped three wickets each in their spell of four overs. On one side, Wood conceded 49 runs, whereas on the other hand, Bishnoi conceded only 28 runs.

While chasing a mammoth total of 218 runs, the Lucknow franchise fell short by 12 runs. The pick of the bowlers for the home side was Moeen Ali, who grabbed four wickets in his spell of four overs.

Here’s how fans reacted to Chennai’s victory: