Lucknow Super Giants got off to a flyer chasing a mammoth target of 228 set by defending champions Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad. The team, however, collectively could manage 171/7 in reply to GT’s 227/2 and fell short by 56 runs.

Quinton de Kock (70 off 41), playing in his first match of the IPL 2023 season, teamed up with Kyle Mayers (48 off 32) and came out all guns blazing to give LSG a great launchpad but the loss of momentum in the middle order proved costly for the visitors.

A win for LSG at this juncture of IPL 2023 could have been crucial but the league stage still has a long way to go. Currently, LSG are third with 11 points from 11 matches and a net run rate of +0.294. 

Super Giants will now head into a five-day break before playing an away game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 13, Saturday. 

LSG’s last two games of the IPL 2023 league will include a home game against MI on May 16 and an away contest against KKR on May 20. 

Mayers-QDK launch LSG

After playing out a quiet first over, Mayers hit Hardik Pandya for a hat-trick of boundaries in the second over to turn the chase on. 

Quinton de Kock and Mayers brought up the 50-run partnership in just four overs, forcing the defending champions to bring on their premier spinner Rashik Khan as early as the fifth over. 

Rashid though, went for 14 in his very first over and Noor Ahmed too came under the pump as the powerplay overs ended with LSG at 72/0.

A brilliant running catch by Rashid Khan in the ninth over ended the partnership on 88 and gave GT an opening to capitalize on.

Badoni (21 off 11) did come in the lower middle order and smashed a couple of sixes but the required run rate kept creeping up and the team lost an opportunity to grab two crucial points.

Avesh Khan takes on the mantle

With figures of 1/34, Avesh Khan did not let GT run away with the contest at a time when other overs were going for skyscrapers. He sent back dangerous Saha on the first ball of his second spell in the 13th over, breaking GT’s record 142-run partnership.

Avesh Khan returned to bowl the death overs and used his slower ones to good effect. He combined with Yash Thakur and Mohsin Khan as LSG gave away just 51 in the last five overs - economical considering the context of the game and the likes of a set Shubman Gill and David Miller batting at either end.

Brief Scores: Gujarat Titans - 227/2 (Shubman Gill 94*, Wriddhiman Saha 81, Avesh Khan 1/34) beat Lucknow Super Giants - 171/7 (Kyle Mayers 48, Quinton de Kock 70, Mohit Sharma 4/29) by 56 runs.