LUCKNOW: KL Rahul’s solid 82 runs off 53 balls helped Lucknow Super Giants comfortably beat Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets in the IPL on Friday. Rahul’s time at the crease, which saw him smash nine fours and three sixes, played a key role in pushing Lucknow past Chennai’s 176-6 with six balls to spare.

“I felt that if we bat well, we could chase it down... when your partnership goes on, you can take a few more chances. Glad that it happened,” said Rahul.

Chennai got off to a slightly jittery start after being invited to bat first, losing Rachin Ravindra (zero) and skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (17) in the first five overs. Ajinkya Rahane looked to steady the side, with the help of Ravindra Jadeja, but fell in the ninth over after racking up a respectable 36 runs off 24 balls.

Lucknow’s clinical bowling restricted Chennai in the middle overs, with Shivam Dube (three) not being able to pop off. But Jadeja soldiered on for the rest of the game, getting his half-century in the seventeenth over. Reliable warhorse M.S. Dhoni, who smacked 28 runs off 9 balls, helped Chennai turn up the heat in the last three overs and pushed the team to 176-6.

Lucknow openers Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul set up the chase with a superb 134-run partnership, before de Kock, who hit five fours in his 43-ball 54, fell in the fifteenth over. Rahul went onto smash an incredible 82 runs off 53 balls before being dismissed in the eighteenth over. A final push by Nicholas Pooran (23) helped seal the victory for Lucknow.

“We lost wickets regularly and were 10-15 short,” said Gaikwad. “Good to play them again soon, will come back with homework done.” Mumbai Indians batsman Tim David and batting coach Kieron Pollard were fined Saturday for asking a teammate to seek a TV review in contravention of rules during an Indian Premier League match.

A video of the team dugout showed David and Pollard gesturing towards batsman Suryakumar Yadav and urging him to take a review for a wide ball during a game against Punjab Kings in Mullanpur on Thursday.

David and Pollard were found to have committed a Level 1 offence under the IPL’s Code of Conduct, which says a player is not allowed to “seek assistance from any person off the field of play in order to decide whether to request a referral to the TV Umpire”.

“David and Pollard were each fined 20 percent of their respective match fees. Both admitted to the offence and accepted the Match Referee’s sanction,” the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a press release.

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians, who pulled off a narrow win by nine runs in Thursday’s match, are currently placed seventh in the 10-team competition. – AFP