Despite not winning a title since their inception in the Indian Premier League in 2022, Lucknow Super Giants have churned out some stunning performances to impress everyone in the cricket fraternity. The franchise reached the playoffs in the last two seasons in 2022 and 2023 and they seem to be on the right track this year as well.
LSG currently occupies the fifth place in the IPL 2024 points table with three wins and as many losses. In addition, the team also has a unique record to their name, as they have also lost only four games in the history of the IPL while batting first.
Prior to this season, KL Rahul’s men had a record of not losing a game after scoring over 160 runs in the first innings. However, a battle against Delhi Capitals in the 2024 edition saw the Super Giants failing to defend 167 runs.
In this article, let’s walk through the top four targets chased against Lucknow Super Giants since their entry into the T20 Championship in 2022
#4 LSG vs GT, IPL 2022
Lucknow Super Giants kick-started their journey in the Indian Premier League on a losing note as they lost to Gujarat Titans in their very first match of the IPL 2022. The two teams crossed swords with each other at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and the Titans scored an easy win by five wickets after chasing 159 runs in the allotted 20 overs.
Playing his first match for the new franchise, Rahul bagged a golden duck while Quinton de Kock was no better as he scored only seven runs. With two more quick wickets, LSG was heading towards a poor score, but Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni chimed in with 55 and 54 runs, respectively, to take the team to a rather defendable total of 158 runs.
Batting in the second innings, GT also had a low start as Shubman Gill and Viajy Shankar recorded scores of 0 and 4 runs respectively. However, the batting brilliance of David Miller and Rahul Tewatia ensured that the team won the game in 19.4 overs.
#3 LSG vs PBKS, IPL 2023
During the 2023 edition of the cash-rich league, Punjab Kings became the only franchise to defeat Lucknow Super Giants when the latter were batting first. It was a low-scoring affair at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow as the home team scored 159 runs in the first innings and Punjab chased the total in 19.3 overs to score a win by two wickets.
KL Rahul looked in exceptional form during the match as he hammered the PBKS bowlers all over the park to score 74 runs off 56 balls. However, he ended up being the lone warrior for the team as no other batter could score even 30 runs courtesy of brilliant bowling by Sam Curran and Kagiso Rabada as they picked three and two wickets, respectively.
It was a tough ride for the Kings in the second innings as they lost their opening pair of Atharva Taide and Prabhsimran Singh within 2.2 overs. For the Super Giants, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Ravi Bishnoi and Mark Wood picked two wickets each but their efforts went in vain.
However, Sikandar Raza stepped up to score 57 runs at a strike rate of 139.02 while Shahrukh Khan also played a short yet effective cameo of 23 runs off 10 balls to take the team home.
#2 KKR vs LSG, IPL 2024
Salt and Iyer recorded the highest partnership for KKR in IPL 2024
The second-highest target chased against LSG is 162 runs and it also came during the ongoing IPL season. The Super Giants locked horns with the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 28th fixture and the game resulted in the two-time IPL Champions winning by eight wickets.
The LSG batters failed to put up an excellent performance as the team ended up with only 161 runs in the allotted 20 overs. Rahul started on a pleasant note but could not prolong his stay in the middle and ended up with only 39 runs off 27 balls.
Following a collapse of the top-order, it was Nicholas Pooran who smacked 45 runs at a strike rate of over 140 to help LSG put up a decent score. Defending the score, LSG bowlers churned out a poor performance as KKR chased the target within 15.4 overs. Phil Salt was the Player of the Match for the team as he hammered 89 runs off just 47 balls while Shreyas Iyer acted as his ally with a knock of 38 runs.
Meanwhile, for LSG, only Mohsin Khan picked two wickets in the form of Sunil Narine and Angkrish Raghuvanshi. Adding to the misery, apart from Khan and Ravi Bishnoi, all the bowlers leaked runs at an economy rate above 11.5 to hand KKR an easy win.
#1 LSG vs DC, IPL 2024
The 26th match of the 17th season of the T20 extravaganza saw Delhi Capitals handing Lucknow Super Giants a defeat by six wickets to tamper with their record of always defending 160+ scores. Winning the toss, the skipper KL Rahul opted to bat first, but the decision did not prove to be fruitful as LSG ended up with only 167 runs.
It was a collapse of the batting line-up as Badoni was the top run-scorer for the team, with 55 runs off 35 balls. Chasing the score was a relatively easy task for the Capitals, as LSG bowlers failed to pose any threat to the opposition.
The Delhi-based franchise looked in complete control of the game right from the beginning as Prithvi Shaw added 32 runs to the scoreboard while Jake Fraser-McGurk and skipper Rishabh Pant contributed with knocks of 55 and 41 runs, respectively. Speaking of LSG bowlers, Bishnoi was the only silver lining for the team with two wickets and an economy rate of 6.2 while others conceded runs at economy rates above 7.5.
The loss by six wickets marked the first time that LSG and the skipper Rahul failed to defend a score of over 160 and it became the highest target chased against the team in the IPL history.