Urvil Patel hits record-equaling 13-ball 50 in IPL as Chennai beats Lucknow to boost top-4 hopes

Patel scored his first IPL half-century as Chennai finished with 208-5 in 19.2 overs in reply to Lucknow's 203-8.

Yashasvi Jaiswal hit a 13-ball IPL 50 for Rajasthan Royals against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2023.

Dube and Veer at the end

Impact player Prashant Veer survived two dropped catches, hitting 17 not out off 12 balls with two sixes, while Dube held his nerve in the final over when Chennai needed 10 off six balls.

Earlier, Jamie Overton took 3-36 in four overs. Josh Inglis hit 85 off 33 to wage a lone top-order battle, while Shahbaz Ahmed helped Lucknow post a challenging target.

It was a sixth win for five-time champion Chennai in 11 games – and third straight – as it rose to fifth in the points’ table, trailing leader Sunrisers Hyderabad by only two points. For Lucknow, it was an eighth loss in 11 games and it stayed bottom of the table.

Put into bat, Lucknow started well despite losing Mitchell Marsh (10) early.

Inglis hit a first half-century for his new team – off only 17 balls. It was Inglis’ fastest half-century in his T20 career, and overall he hit six sixes and 10 fours as Lucknow scored 91-1 in the powerplay.

But Nicholas Pooran was caught for one off Noor Ahmad. Overton then dismissed Inglis and skipper Rishabh Pant (15) across four balls in the 10th over.

Lucknow slipped to 115-4 after that double strike, and 147-6 in 14.2 overs. Aiden Markram (6) was run out and Akshat Raghuwanshi (18) was caught off Overton.

Ahmed counter-attacked with 43 not out off 25 balls, hitting three sixes and three fours.

Lucknow almost defended the total but was let down by dropped catches and poor death bowling.

Chennai's chase

Sanju Samson hit 28 off 14 with two sixes and three fours to start off the chase as Chennai scored 97-1 in the powerplay.

Patel and skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (42) added 81 off 34 balls for the second wicket.

Patel raced to his half-century, hitting seven sixes, as Chennai looked to win in a hurry.

Ahmed struck back with the ball too, dismissing both set batters in the space of three overs as Chennai slipped to 149-3 in 12.5 overs.

It was still ahead of the asking rate, and the middle order kept pushing for runs but Kartik Sharma (20) and Dewald Brevis (10) couldn’t convert their starts.

Wrist spinner Digvesh Rathi took 2-45 but dropped two catches, while Pooran dropped one. Veer was dropped twice in the penultimate over bowled by Avesh Khan.

With 30 needed off the last three overs, Veer and Dube saw Chennai home. It was Chennai’s first successful 200-plus chase since 2018.

It’s Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs. Mumbai Indians in Sunday’s late game.

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