Nicholas Pooran finishes the game with a four and Lucknow Super Giants have won this game by 8 wickets. LSG mastered this chase beautifully as CSK never looked threatening at any point in the second innings. 

Tushar Deshpande has bowled a full toss almost over the shoulder of Nicholas Pooran and umpire has given it no-ball. It is a beamer for sure but to everyone's surprise, CSK have reviwed it. As expected, it has been given a no-ball as it is passing well over the chest height of Pooran. This was a horrible review from CSK.

KL Rahul is out! That is a superb catch from Ravindra Jadeja that puts an end to the knock of Rahul. The batter slashed it towards backward point where Jadeja put a jump to his left to pull off a one-handed stunner. TV umpire is checking the catch and it seems a clean catch. Lucknow Super Giants need 16 runs in 17 balls.

15 runs came off the Mustafizur Rahman over. Lucknow Super Giants need 16 runs in 18 balls.

Matheesha Pathirana conceded 12 runs in his third over. Nicholas Pooran smashed him for a big six on the fourth ball of the over. Lucknow Super Giants look in control of the chase. They need 31 runs in 24 balls.

Mustafizur Rahman has provided Chennai Super Kings a breakthrough. He has dismissed Quinton de Kock. It was a short ball and de Kock edged it to wicketkeeper MS Dhoni. Lucknow Super Giants need 43 runs in 30 balls.

Quinton de Kock races to his half-century in 41 balls. This is a slow knock from the South African start but he has time to make up for it. He should put his foot on accelerator before Chennai Super Kings get a window to bounce back. Lucknow Super Giants need 54 runs in 35 balls.

LSG 123/0 (14.1)

The official data stats that a total of 45,392 spectators are witnessing the ongoing LSG vs CSK match at Ekana Cricket Stadium. Lucknow Super Giants need 56 runs in 36 balls.

LSG 121/0 (14)

Lucknow Super Giants are well in control of this chase. KL Rahul is solid after scoring his half-century while Quinton de Kock is also nearing his fify. LSG need 64 runs in 42 balls with 10 wickets in hand. It should be an easy chase for them from here.

KL Rahul scored his half-century in 31 balls. He got there with a four before slamming yet another boundary that saw Ravindra Jadeja being unhappy with his fielders. The second shot was a mishit from Rahul that fell right between the backward point and short third man fielders before running away for a four.

LSG 103/0 (11)

Matheesha Pathirana bowled a 12-run over before Ravindra Jadeja conceded 9 runs in the following one. Lucknow Super Giants are going really well in this chase. They need 93 runs in 66 balls. The asking rate is 8.45, which should not be a big deal for them.

Quinton de Kock played a slog sweep on the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja. Sameer Rizwi at deep backward square leg fielded the ball and threw it to the wicketkeeper's end where MS Dhoni tried to apply his signature style to effect a run-out but failed as the throw didn't come in time and Dhoni meanwhile failed to find the stumps while directing the throw by deflecting it from his hands. Lucknow Super Giants need 114 runs in 78 balls.

What a start for Lucknow Super Giants this is! Credit for this goes to KL Rahul, who is batting with a strike rate of 170. Rahul has scored 34 runs off 20 balls. Lucknow Super Giants need 123 runs in 84 balls. Chennai Super Kings need a breakthrough to bounce back in the game.

Tushar Deshpande has conceded 11 runs in his second over. He was hit for a four and a six in it. Rahulu started the over with a four while Quinton de Kock ended it with a six. Lucknow Super Giants need 134 runs in 90 balls.

Here comes CSK's star pacer Mustafizur Rahman and he starts with an 8-run over. Lucknow Super Giants will still be happy for the fact that they haven't lost any wicket so far in this chase. Two more overs remaining in the powerplay.

KL Rahul is looking in fine touch while Quinton de Kock seems to be taking his time at the middle. Overall, this is a good start for Lucknow Super Giants. Deepak Chahar started with a three-run over before Tushar Deshpande conceded 9. Chahar returned and went for 12 runs this time with KL Rahul smashing him for a four a six.

Deepak Chahar has the new in hand. Quinton de Kock is on strike while KL Rahul is at the other end. Here we go...

MS Dhoni slammed Yash Thakur for a six and two fours in the last over that fetched CSK overall 19 runs. Dhoni remains not out at the score of 28 off only 9 balls. His strike rate is 311.11. Not to forget Ravindra Jadeja's unbeaten 57 off 40 as well that played a crucial role in helping CSK post a really good total. 

CSK 176/6 (20)

This was right in the slot for MS Dhoni and he has smacked it ito the crowd for a biggie. That went for 101 metres. Dear Yash Thakur, you can't bowl him there man!

CSK 166/6 (19.3)

On the second legal delivery of Mohsin Khan's over, MS Dhoni walked across the stumps and scooped the good length ball right over wicketkeeper KL Rahul's head for a six. Tell me if you have ever seen Dhoni playing such an orthodox shot. This is T20 cricket at its best for you, ladies and gentlemen!

CSK 157/6 (19)

Moeen Ali is out after smashing a hat-trick of sixes to Ravi Bishnoi and here comes the man everybody was eagerly waiting for - MS Dhoni! The former CSK captain enters the ground amid rousing reception from the crowd.

That is a missed opportunity from the LSG player at long-on and that sees Ravindra Jadeja racing to his half-century in 34 balls. Jadeja failed to time the shot to perfection but managed to escape with a six. Deepak Hooda, the player at long-on, dropped the catch.  

MS Dhoni did not come out to bat despite Chennai Super Kings losing their fifth wicket. This is because the former CSK skipper is currently struggling with a knee injury and batting for long could be an issue for him. CSK batting coach Mike Hussey had earlier informed that Dhoni is not in a position to play a long innings. 

Only 5 runs came off Marcus Stoinis' second over. During the over, the cameraman spotted actor Riteish Deshmukh being with LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka in the stands.

Another one bites the dust and Chennai Super Kings go 5 down. Sameer Rizvi danced down the track to got for a big one and missed it completely. The ball spun away from him and KL Rahul neatly did the stumping.

Pressure gets the better of Shivam Dube. He is out at the score of 3 off 8 balls. Marcus Stoinis gets the wicket. Dube sliced that ball in the air before KL Rahul took the catch. CSK announce Sameer Rizvi as their impact player and bring him to bat next. 

Pressure gets the better of Shivam Dube. He is out at the score of 3 off 8 balls. Marcus Stoinis gets the wicket. 

Six runs came off Yash Thakur's second over. He bowled smartly in the over to keep both Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja in check. The duo have added 19 runs for the fourth wicket but taken 17 balls for that. CSK need to accelerate now.

Krunal Pandya has bowled a six-run over and took one wicket. Shivam Dube is the new batter, who has come after the dismissal of Rahane and CSK would expect some fireworks from him to push their scoring rate, which is just above 8 at this moment.

Kruanl Pandya has cleaned up Ajinkya Rahane. That is a big blow to CSK as Rahane was playing really well there. It was a short of length ball that skid into Rahane and rattled his stumps. Rahane is gone for 36 runs off 24 balls.

CSK 68/3 (8.1)

Chennai Super Kings are going well in this game. Ravi Bishnoi conceded 11 runs in his first over.

Nine runs came off the Matt Henry over. This was a shared poweplay as CSK got 51 runs in it but also lost two wickets. The good thing for CSK is that both their current batters - Rahane and Jadeja - are looking really confident and batting well.

Ruturaj Gaikwad is gone! He was trying to drive the ball of Yash Thakur but failed to judge the length properly and paid the price. Gaikwad got a thick outside edge that was carried behind the stumps by KL Rahul. Here is a surprising move from CSK as Ravindra Jadeja has come out to bat at the number 4 position.

That is an outstanding shot from the bat of Ajinkya Rahane for a six. Matt Henry bowled it around the good length region and Rahane pulled it away for a superb six through the cow corner region. 13 runs came off the over.

Mohsin Khan cleaned up Rachin Ravindra on the first ball of the second over. It was a fuller ball that went through the gate to crash onto the stumps. What followed was an ecstatic celebration from Mohsin.

CSK 7/1 (2)

Ajinkya Rahane got off the mark with a four on the off side byt Matt Henry made a really good comeback post that and bowled four dot balls to keep it an economical over. 

CSK 4/0 (1)

Lucknow Super Giants: Arshin Kulkarni, Krishnappa Gowtham, Yudhvir Singh, Manimaran Siddharth, Arshad Khan

Chennai Super Kings: Sameer Rizvi, Shardul Thakur, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Mitchell Santner

Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul(w/c), Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Matt Henry, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman, Matheesha Pathirana

"We would have bowled first. We batted first in the last game and batted well. (Win against MI) A good confidence-booster. Going there and defending is a big boost for us. We don't want to get complacent. We are trying to be as consistent as possible. Just a bit lucky (on his batting), unlucky dismissal in the first two matches. Good to be back, good to be going. Everyone is confident. Two changes. Mo (Moeen Ali) comes in for Mitchell, Deepak comes in for Shardul," said CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad.

"We'll bowl first. Looks like a good wicket, dew hasn;t been a big factor. Hopefully it stays good for 40 overs. We would like to know what we are chasing. There weren't any blunders we made. Last game against KKR was a big defeat. Still pretty relaxed. I know it's halfway mark. As a leadership group, if we panic it spreads. That's not what I like to be. Great support staff. We are trying to keep as relaxed as possible. The pitches have been relaid here. Each time you play, it can be different. Just one change. Joseph is out, Matt Henry comes in," said LSG captain KL Rahul after the toss.

LSG captain KL Rahul wins toss, opts to bowl vs CSK.

Toss Update
Lucknow Super Giants win the toss and elect to bowl against Chennai Super Kings.
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— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 19, 2024

In the spin department, Ravi Bishnoi has been bowling tight spells, but his one dimensional skill of bowling one googly after another has been found out as he got only four wickets in the six game so far. Bishnoi vs a rampaging Shivam Dube will be a mouth-watering contest and will add a spicy sub-plot to the main battle.

The average first innings score in Lucknow this season has been 175, which is at least 15 sub-par compared to some of the other grounds, and this is exactly the kind of total where Dhoni, like the seasoned 'Concert Master' of an orchestra team, controls the 'pitch and tune'.

With LSG's batting unit not exactly inspiring the highest level of confidence despite its firepower, it remains to be seen how it tackles an attack where each bowler brings something different to the table. Matheesha Pathirana, with his yorkers, is literally unplayable at the death, while Mustafizur Rahman has at least three variations of cutters, including one with scrambled seam. Ravindra Jadeja, on tracks where the ball grips like it often happens at the Ekana, could be more than a handful. At Lucknow, it could be an option to play the extra spinner in Maheesh Theekshana to make full use of the conditions.

Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (wk), Aravelly Avanish (wk), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, RS Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Nishant Sindhu, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Choudhary, Mustafizur Rahman, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Prashant Solanki, Shardul Thakur, Maheesh Theekshana, Sameer Rizvi.

Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Kyle Mayers, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Krunal Pandya, Yudhvir Singh, Prerak Mankad, Yash Thakur, Amit Mishra, Shamar Joseph, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, K. Gowtham, Shivam Mavi, Arshin Kulkarni, M. Siddharth, Ashton Turner, Matt Henry, Mohd. Arshad Khan

A set of probing questionnaires awaits the Lucknow Super Giants on their home turf as Chennai Super Kings' cerebral bowling unit will look to use its variation to the fullest on a two-paced Ekana Stadium track during their IPL 2024 clash on Friday. The two teams endured contrasting fortunes in their previous couple of matches. While Ruturaj Gaikwad's team, still 'marshalled' by the peerless Mahendra Singh Dhoni, is coming into the game with back-to-back victories, LSG under KL Rahul have endured a mini-slump with successive defeats.

A side strain during the game against Gujarat Titans came as a big blow to youngster Mayank Yadav and since then, he has not featured in the competition till now. However, ahead of the CSK game, Mayank was seen practising in the LSG nets.

Phir se udd chala pic.twitter.com/q8CP55Bkgk

— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) April 17, 2024

Young fast bowler Mayank Yadav has been a revelation for Lucknow Super Giants in the ongoing IPL 2024 as he produced a sensational match-winning performance on his debut. Mayank, who bowled the fastest delivery of this year's competition at 156.7 kmph, followed it up with another three-wicket haul that guided his team to victory against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Welcome everyone to the live blog of 34th match of IPL 2024 that will take place between Lucknow Super Giants and Chennai Super Kings at the Ekana Cricket Stadium. Stay connected for the live updates -