Two former champions pulled off exciting victories to keep themselves in the reckoning in IPL 2025 on two consecutive days.

If it was Mumbai Indians who bounced back at the Kotla in Delhi on Sunday, Mahendra Singh Dhoni used his magic wand for Chennai Super Kings at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow a day later.

CSK were staring at the prospect of losing a sixth game in a row when Dhoni joined Shivam Dube with five overs left in their 167-run chase. But Dhoni’s scintillating 26 off 11 balls alongside Dube’s well-planned 43 off 37 took them to a five-wicket victory with three balls remaining.

Dhoni and Dube stitched together 57 runs off 28 balls in an unbroken partnership. Dhoni’s innings included four boundaries and a six while Dube smashed three fours and two sixes.

Sixth-wicket stand

Dhoni provided Dube the courage to take on the LSG bowlers. Ravi Bishnoi, Digvesh Rathi and Aiden Markram had been making good use of the conditions.

Dhoni finished the 17th over with a one-handed six over deep square leg off Shardul Thakur to revive their hopes and there was no looking back.

Dube then took 19 runs off Thakur’s next over, the 19th off the innings, to put it beyond the home team.

Captain’s knock

Earlier, the CSK bowlers, especially their spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Noor Ahmad, made perfect use of the slow and low conditions to stifle the home team.

This was the day when Rishabh Pant needed to come to the party to rescue his side. The skipper came to the crease as early as the fourth over and had enough time to adjust himself to the conditions.

Pant played a crucial hand despite some struggles against spin to top score with 63 off 49 balls, which included four boundaries and four sixes.

His start to the season may have been forgettable but with the team getting into a good rhythm, Pant too is gradually regaining his lost touch.

Pant began swiftly with cuts and a reverse-sweep six over short third man. But Noor and, to an extent, Jadeja saw Pant’s strike-rate plummet from a high of 165 to 103. He survived a close chance off Noor on 29 when Dhoni failed to hold on to a sharp chance.

The Super Giants captain struggled against Noor and played 10 dots in 15 balls for a strike-rate of 40, the second-worst of all batters against one bowler in the IPL (minimum of 15 balls).

However, having reached 40 off 39 balls, Pant found his magical touch against the pace of Matheesha Pathirana and Khaleel Ahmed to turn the innings around.

He raced to a 42-ball half-century with two sixes and then looked for a big finish, but fell to Pathirana at the start of the final over.

Jadeja sizzles

The conditions were ideal for the spinners and Jadeja made full use of it. He got the ball to grip and his familiar skiddy deliveries had the batters in trouble.

With Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran being dismissed cheaply, Mitchell Marsh tried to make use of the Powerplay overs. His luck ran out as his intended pull was initiated a bit too early. Pant and Marsh had added 50 off 32 balls and were looking to break free.

Ayush Badoni threatened to take the game away just when CSK were trying to get a foothold. With two runs in his first four balls, Jamie Overton was trying to keep things under control by bowling the perfect follow-up 12th over to Noor’s 11th over which yielded only three runs.

Chennai Super Kings' Shivam Dube plays a shot during an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 T20 cricket match between Lucknow Super Giants and Chennai Super Kings, at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, in Lucknow, Monday, April 14, 2025.

But Badoni ruined it by smashing sixes over cover and fine leg. He survived a leg before decision off Jadeja with the ball grazing the glove. His luck ran out, as he decided to give the left-arm spinner the charge.

Jadeja had kept it short and wide expecting Badoni to come down the wicket. Dhoni didn’t have to waste time in removing the bails with his gloves barely behind
the stumps.

Pooran fails

It was not an easy wicket to bat on and Lucknow Super Giants struggled to get the momentum going after Pooran’s early dismissal.

The Orange Cap holder made a slow start but Anshul Kamboj trapped him in front. The medium pacer convinced Dhoni to go for the review and his instincts proved to be right.

Mhatre in

CSK have signed 17-year-old Mumbai opener Ayush Mhatre as a replacement for injured captain Ruturaj Gaikwad for the remainder of the season for ₹30 lakh.

Mhatre is yet to make his T20 debut but has two centuries in seven List-A games. It included a 117-ball 181 against Nagaland with 15 fours and 11 sixes.

He also represented the India U-19 team in three games at the Asia Cup in 2024.