Live Report - Gaikwad 108*, Dube 66 power CSK to 210

20m ago

41m ago

54m ago

Dube is CSK's designated spin-hitter. And with both LSG spinners - Bishnoi and Krunal - spinning the ball into him, Rahul doesn't want to risk bowling them. In fact, no captain has been that brave this season.

But it has made little difference. After hitting Marcus Stoinis for a sixes and a four across the allrounder's two overs, he has latched onto Yash Thakur, hitting him for three successive sixes in the 16th over.

Dube has moved to 37 off just 15 balls, and CSK 154/3 after 16. ESPNcricinfo's Forecaster is predicting 208 for them.

1h ago

1h ago

It's not an easy pitch - the ball is not coming onto the bat. But Gaikwad has looked in sublime touch, and brings up his fifty off just 28 balls.

CSK 74/2 after nine

1h ago

37 Runs scored by Gaikwad in the powerplay today. Only twice he has scored more in this phase in T20s. Coincidentally, his best in the powerplay, 46, was also against LSG and at Chepauk.

2h ago

2h ago

The LSG bowlers are offering width to Gaikwad and he is loving it. In the fourth over, Ravi Bishnoi made that mistake a couple of times and Gaikwad hit him for two boundaries.

From the other end, Henry bowled one full outside off, only for Gaikwad to drive him through covers. Two balls later, he shorted his length but Gaikwad played a late cut to pick up another boundary. He has moved to 36 off just 18 balls.

CSK 48/1 after five

2h ago

... thanks to a stunning, one-handed catch by KL Rahul.

Henry's first five balls were either on good length or just short of it. For the last ball, Henry went full and just outside off. Rahane couldn't resist the temptation to drive at it. But all he managed was an outside edge. It went to the right Rahul - the first slip was a touch wide - and he dived full length and pouched it.

CSK 4/1 after one

PS: In the next over, Mohsin Khan could have had Daryl Mitchell but Yash Thakur dropped a straightforward chance at short third. Gaikwad adds insult to injury by hitting the next two balls for four.

3h ago

LSG have won the toss and opted to bowl. "The only reason I can come up with is there is a bit of dew," LSG captain KL Rahul says. "We trained here yesterday and having played here before as well, dew plays a role in the second innings."

Ian Bishop asked Rahul how they plan to make the crowd quiet. "I don't think they are going to get quiet," Rahul says. LSG are unchanged.

"Something to work on for me - the coin toss," CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad says. "I have lost it now seven times." CSK have made one change: Daryl Mitchell comes in for Rachin Ravindra. Gaikwad confirms he will open the innings.

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Daryl Mitchell, 4 Shivam Dube, 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 MS Dhoni (wk), 8 Deepak Chahar, 9 Tushar Deshpande, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Matheesha Pathirana

Impact Players: Sameer Rizvi, Shardul Thakur, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Rachin Ravindra

Lucknow Super Giants: 1 Quinton de Kock, 2 KL Rahul (capt, wk), 3 Nicholas Pooran, 4 Marcus Stoinis, 5 Deepak Hooda, 6 Ayush Badoni, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Matt Henry, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Mohsin Khan, 11 Yash Thakur

Impact Players: Devdutt Padikkal, Arshin Kulkarni, M Siddharth, Yudhvir Singh, K Gowtham

3h ago

One end has got more even covering of the grass than the other. So will we see, predominantly, spinners operating from one end and seamers from the other?

Matthew Hayden predicts there will be dew. So does that mean the captain winning the toss will be looking to bowl first?

The square boundaries are 66 and 67 metres. The straight boundary is 78 metres.

3h ago

Deivarayan Muthu: Matt Henry is marking his run-up, with his New Zealand and Canterbury team-mate Daryl Mitchell assisting him. Can't spot Shamar Joseph or Naveen-ul-Haq yet. M Siddharth, the local boy, was first to arrive for training this evening and even had a long stint at the nets on Monday evening. He was a net bowler for CSK last season. Will he get a chance to go up against CSK today?

Devon Conway, who had been sidelined from the IPL with a thumb injury, has linked up with the CSK side in Chennai. He hit the nets yesterday and will complete his rehab in Chennai under Tommy Simsek, who is also the New Zealand physio. CSK's new recruit Richard Gleeson, though, is yet to join the squad.

3h ago

CSK like to keep things simple, and one of those things is: win five out of seven home games and three or four away ones and you are through to the playoffs.

So far in IPL 2024, they have checked the first box, with three wins from as many home games but the away matches have been an issue. There they have just one win from four games, which means they need to do even better at home to strengthen their playoff chances.

For that reason, their next three games - all at Chepauk - become crucial. Tonight, they are up against Lucknow Super Giants, who are used to playing on slow, spinning surfaces. Can CSK overcome this challenge? We will find out soon.