The explosive opening duo of Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad, who sparked the team’s powerplay and gave them a great start, further enhanced the Chennai Super Kings’ triumphant return home. Both batsmen put a lot of pressure on the bowling attack of the Lucknow Super Giants up front, as Avesh Khan and Kyle Mayers were shown taking a lot of hard knocks.
Their leading pacer from the third IPL encounter, Mark Wood, too, had a bad start to the match, giving up 19 runs in his opening over.
When the Lucknow bowlers made mistakes in line and length, the elite opening pair made sure they capitalized on the early pressure and made them pay. It just took 28 balls for both batters to help their club reach the 50-run threshold. No one could stop the duo even after the powerplay ended, as they mercilessly destroyed the Lucknow bowlers.
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Ruturaj played some stunning strokes and put on a show of some amazing strokes, seemingly picking up where he left off against the Gujrat Titans in the previous match. Much to everyone’s surprise, one of Gaikwad’s powerful blows from his willow fell directly onto the sponsored car parked in the grandstand. The force of the hit was so great that it left a visible dent in the automobile.
Ruturaj Gaikwad delivered a vicious hit that astounded everyone in the stadium. During the course of his 31-ball innings, Gaikwad blasted four maximums in all. In the tenth over, after reaching fifty runs, he was out to leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi and caught by Mark Wood.
Together with Conway, his opening partner, he scored 110 runs, and his courageous hitting gave Chennai the upper hand.