Right then, that is it from this high-scoring game in the 2023 Indian T20 League and it has been quite entertaining. Chennai continue to prove why this venue is their fortress as they claim their first win while Lucknow put on quite a fight to make a game of this. The action in the 16th edition of this competition continues on Tuesday, the 4th of April as Delhi will host the reigning champions from Gujarat at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. That game will begin at 7.30 pm IST (2 pm GMT) but our build-up will begin much sooner. Until then, goodbye and cheers!

Moenn Ali is the Player of the Match for his outstanding bowling as he took 4 wickets for 28 runs and chipped in with 19 off 13 balls with the bat. He says that it was a tough game as the opposition have big hitters. Mentions that he tried to bowl as he does in Test cricket and get the ball to turn. Explains that you do not want to get up to batters as it could be dangerous and the bowling partnership with Mitchell Santner was good as he also chipped in with a wicket. Claims that MS Dhoni knows when to bowl his players and an off-spinner can still bowl to right-handers as the pressure is on batters to hit towards long boundaries. Ends by stating that he is not going to bowl all the time as Ravindra Jadeja is also there so they will take it game by game.

MS Dhoni the captain of Chennai says that it was a terrific game and a high scoring one. Adds that it was a perfect game that could have happened on their return to the stadium. Shares that he thought the wicket will behave much slower but was surprised that batters were able to play their shots in the second inning. States that they will need to see how the wicket behaves in the next six games. Shares that the fast bowling needs to improve and adds that they need to bowl in those areas where there are fielders. States that the bowlers need to keep an eye on what the opposition bowlers are doing and they need to bowl fewer wides and no balls. On his two sixes, he says that in such high-scoring games, those one or two hits do matter a lot.

KL Rahul the skipper of Lucknow starts by saying that it was not an ideal start with the ball and adds that the wicket was a bit sticky with movement on offer. Feels that they did not bowl in the right areas and the opposition batters capitalized on that momentum. Credits Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway for batting the way they did. Reckons that conceding 70-odd runs in the Powerplay probably cost them the game. On Kyle Mayers, he says that he has been in a good form for West Indies and is glad about the way he is batting. On Ravi Bishnoi, he says that he puts his hands up when everything is against them. Mentions that it is good for them that different individuals have shouldered responsibility in both games. Ends by saying that they had a good start with the bat and kept pressing on which is what they wanted to do.

Time for the presentations...

Mitchell Santner is up for a chat and he says that it was a pretty good wicket to bat on and the batters scored lots of runs in the Powerplay so it was their job to slow things down. Claims that it gets easier to make plans with the boundary dimension being the same on this ground so he can focus on the bowling while back in New Zealand it is different. Mentions that he tries to do his best but the wicket was a little flatter than he expected and as the tournament goes ahead, he hopes to get more purchase off the pitch. Ends by saying that it has been a while since they came back to the ground and at that time one stand was shut, so it is good to have a full stadium as the crowd has been amazing.

In the first essay, Chennai scored their highest total in the Powerplay in the Indian T20 League accumulating 79 runs as Ruturaj Gaikwad continued his good form with yet another half-century. Devon Conway fell three short of his fifty and cameos from Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, and Ambati Rayudu pushed them beyond the 200-run mark. Ravi Bishnoi was the pick of the bowlers taking three wickets for 28 runs in his four overs and Mark Wood claimed three as well but was expensive. The rest of the bowlers were dispatched all over the park and left their batters with an uphill task to make it two wins in a row. 

MS Dhoni opted to use his pacers in the first five overs on a pitch that was slowing down considerably and the ploy backfired as Deepak Chahar, Ben Stokes, and Tushar Deshpande proved to be very expensive. The introduction of spin in the form of Moeen Ali got them back into the game and Mitchell Santner claimed one in his first over as well. Moeen Ali continued to cause havoc chipping in with wickets and ended with a four-fer under his belt. Tushar Deshpande took two wickets in the death overs and held his nerve in the final over to help his team across the finish line. The skipper will be hoping for a more disciplined performance from his bowlers going forward as they conceded 18 runs in extras. 

Lucknow got off the best possible start in the run chase as Kyle Mayers got them off to a flier, racing to his fifty in just 21 balls but departed inside the Powerplay. They still managed to post 80 runs in the first six overs and looked well on course to achieve the target. However, the wickets of Deepak Hooda and KL Rahul de-railed their efforts and they found themselves behind in the game once again. Krunal Pandya could not add much to the scoreboard but cameos from Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, and Krishnappa Gowtham kept them in the hunt but the target continued to remain out of their reach and they would have liked some of their batters to carry on after the start they got.

What an entertaining game we have witnessed with the tide turning both ways through the game! It is the home crowd that has reason to cheer with their team sealing a 12-run victory on their return to this venue after four years! Chennai have managed to hold their nerves and in the end, their batting effort was good enough to get them their first win of the competition. Lucknow are unable to continue their winning momentum and suffer their first loss of this season but will want to brush this off as soon as possible.

Mark Wood is the new batter at the crease.