Dented Chennai Super Kings (CSK) lock horns with confident Lucknow Super Giants as KL Rahul won the toss and elected to bowl first at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Monday (April 3).
KL Rahul dropped Jaydev Unadkat to include Krishnappa Gowtham in the Lucknow's final XI.
“Does mean a lot. IPL started in 2008 but we've not played a lot of cricket here. Only about 5-6 seasons we've been here. This is the first time the full stadium will be operational, a few stands were empty earlier. Same squad for this game. Need to keep assessing our situation and keep revisiting our targets, keep a realistic goal in mind and take it from there,” CSK captain MS Dhoni said after the toss.
“We'll bowl first. We want to know what we are chasing. It was a really good performance against DC, all parts of the game we did well. We need to turn up again today andbetter those performances. Jaydev Unadkat misses out, Yash Thakur comes in. Today, we need to assess the conditions well and find the right lengths early. Get the batters out early and then hope there is a bit of dew, dew factor is always there in Chennai,” LSG skipper Rahul said after winning the toss.
IPL 2023 CSK vs LSG Live score
CSK are coming from a five-wicket loss in their opener while LSG clinched a 50-run victory over Delhi Capitals in their campaign opener.
Head-to-Head
CSK and LSG have played each other just once in IPL in which Dhoni's brigade lost the battle against Rahul's men.
Pitch Report
"Square boundaries - 68m on one side, 61m on the other side, downtown - 75m. The batters will look to scoop and dab. It's got a white sheen and it's got the grass clippings rolled in. Average first innings score is 150, winning score will be around 165-167. Chasing here is challenging, but it's a night game. Will the dew be a bit of a factor? Fingers crossed that it's not too outrageous. Even though it's 'spin to win', if a batter gets in and smashes it to the small sides, then look out, because the bowlers here at Chepauk can absolutely disappear," Danny Morrison analysed the pitch.
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): KL Rahul(c), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran(w), Ayush Badoni, Mark Wood, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Thakur, Avesh Khan.
Subs: Ayush Badoni, Jaydev Unadkat, Daniel Sams, Prerak Mankad, Amit Mishra
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Shivam Dube, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, RS Hangargekar.
Subs: Tushar Deshpande, Dwaine Pretorius, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, Ajinkya Rahane
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