It's not often you get to navigate puddles of rain water before entering the MA Chidambaram Stadium in the month of May. A spell of summer rain has come as a welcome relief for Chennai locals. It kept Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants indoors as both teams opted not to practice on the eve of the game. It does help in some ways during a gruelling schedule. But what the two teams would hope for is for those rain clouds to disappear overnight. Both CSK and LSG desperately need two points and both teams would view this fixture as a fantastic opportunity.
CSK in particular have been building momentum despite the shaky start that saw them lose their first three games. They have now won three of their last four matches, clawing their way back into playoff contention. Recent results around the league would have come as a welcome boost as well with no team running away at the top. And now, with back-to-back fixtures against the bottom-placed team coming up, CSK will fancy their chances of adding four more points to their tally over the next few days.
Sanju Samson was once again on fire in their most recent win in Delhi and young Kartik Sharma is starting to find his feet at this level. If the likes of Dewald Brevis and Shivam Dube can find form at this stage of the campaign, CSK's chances will brighten especially since their bowling attack looks settled.
LSG will have their own reasons to back themselves. Despite gong through a torrid season, they have looked quite impressive in patches in the last three games. One of them saw LSG go down via a Super Over, the other one saw them lose despite posting 228 and their most recent fixture ended in a statement win. Not many expected LSG to topple the defending champions RCB but they did it with conviction. Mitchell Marsh hit a scintillating ton and Nicholas Pooran looks a million bucks again after reclaiming his No.3 spot. That win would have definitely given LSG some hope with four games still remaining. With CSK also not possessing a great home record in recent times, this is certainly not a herculean task.
@B0$: Chennai Super Kings vs Lucknow Super Giants, May 10 at 3:30 PM
@B1$: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
@B2$: The uncertain weather could influence how the surface behaves at least initially. The forecast for Sunday does look clear, paving the way for a full game.
@B3$: CSK 2 - 3 LSG
@B4$@B5$
@B6$@B7$
@B8$: As always, the cloud of uncertainty hangs over MS Dhoni's participation. Especially with the practice session getting cancelled, the suspense will continue.
@B9$: Sanju Samson(w), Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Urvil Patel, Kartik Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Akeal Hosein, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Choudhary, Gurjapneet Singh
@B10$@B11$
@B12$: Last game, Rishabh Pant mentioned that Josh Inglis and Mohsin Khan missed out due to small injuries. It will be interesting to see if the duo recovers in time for this fixture.
@B13$: Mitchell Marsh, Arshin Kulkarni, Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram/Josh Inglis, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Akshat Raghuwanshi, Himmat Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav/Mohsin Khan
@B14$
- Akeal Hosein has a dot-ball percentage of 64.8 in the Powerplay.
- Mitchell Marsh is the leading overseas run getter in IPL since the start of 2025.
- LSG have used six uncapped batters in their campaign so far.
@B15$:
"Last year he showed glimpses of what he could achieve. So, actually this year during the camps that we had, we discussed his strengths. Under pressure, sometimes a bowler goes blank. But under pressure, the one who is confident of executing his strengths is going to be most successful in execution." - LSG bowling coach @B16$
