Chennai Super Kings vs Lucknow Super Giants

Chennai Super Kings beat Lucknow Super Giants by 12 runs at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium on 3 April 2023. CSK posted 217/7 after winning use of the pitch from LSG, who had chosen to field after winning the toss. Lucknow gave themselves every chance, reaching 80 for 1 through the powerplay, but four middle-overs wickets halted their momentum and they finished on 205/7. Moeen Ali was named Player of the Match for his all-round contribution. Both sides exceeded the venue's average first-innings score of 192, making it a well above-average evening for batting at a ground that typically keeps bowlers in the game.

The story of CSK's innings was their powerplay. Seventy-nine runs without loss in the first six overs set a platform that LSG's attack could not fully recover from, and the middle phase of 85 runs for 3 wickets meant there was always enough in the bank. The death overs yielded 53 runs at the cost of 4 wickets, a phase where Chepauk's average is just 38 runs, so CSK extracted good value there too.

For Lucknow, the response was gutsy. Their own powerplay of 80 for 1 matched CSK stride for stride, and it looked a contest well into the second half of the chase. But the middle phase cost them four wickets for 70 runs, leaving too much to do at the back end. Their 205 is a creditable total at any ground; it simply wasn't enough here.