KL Rahul showed a moment of brilliance on the field when he took a one-handed stunner to send Chennai Super Kings batter Ajinkya Rahane back to the hut. LSG and CSK lock horns against each other in a reverse fixture at the latter's home in Chennai. LSG won the toss and asked CSK to bat first at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
Matt Henry, playing in his second match of the season, made an early strike as he removed Rahane in the opening over on the back of a spectacular catch from skipper Rahul. The dismissal seemed a well-set plan as the bowler bowled length balls up until the wicket delivery, which was fuller. The first slip was put wider than the original position and Rahul displayed a brilliant flying effort to take the catch near the first slip.
After bowling length deliveries, Henry went for the fuller ball that held its line outside the off stump right in the corridor of uncertainty like a Test match ball. Rahane went for the drive and got a little poke at the ball. The ball travelled between the wicketkeeper and the wide slip. Rahul had hardly any time to react and some good distance to cover. He lept in the air to his right, stuck his right hand out and grabbed the ball to complete a brilliant catch.
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LSG won the toss and opted to bowl first. While the visitors made no change to their playing XI, the hosts went with one key change. They dropped Rachin Ravindra and brought back Daryl Mitchell for the clash.
"We'll bowl first. There is a bit of dew, we have trained here and there is a bit of dew that will play an impact. Wicket is a bit slow and hopefully we can put their batters under pressure. (On previous win) We played well in all three facets, but we have left the result back in Lucknow. We know how challenging Chennai is, everyone will be cheering for them. Same team for us. No need to quieten the crowd, they always encourage good cricket," LSG skipper Rahul said at the toss.
"Nothing different, but the coin toss is something I need to work on. I've lost seven in a row I think. There will be some dew later on, but you never know how the wicket will surprise you. You just need to go out there and express yourself, if the ball is in your area then just attack it. Hoping to set the foundation upfront. One change for us - Daryl comes in for Rachin. Pretty good to have three home games, but for that we will need to win some tosses. However, it doesn't matter if you are batting first or bowling first, you need to play good cricket here to win," Gaikwad said at the flip of the coin.
