Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant acknowledged that fielding lapses proved costly as his side fell to a five-wicket defeat against Chennai Super Kings in an IPL 2026 match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday. Chasing a target of 204, CSK secured a thrilling victory that went down to the final over.
Dropped catches prove decisive
LSG missed several key opportunities during the chase, including two dropped catches of Prashant Veer when he was on nine and one of Urvil Patel when he was on 62. Pant admitted these moments significantly influenced the outcome, despite his team's efforts to stay competitive.
"Definitely. I think it was a great game. Everything was coming out nicely. We knew we were going to put enough pressure on in the power play because when you practice like that, that's the kind of cricket you look forward to," Pant said after the match.
"But at the same time, I feel like there was enough time. In T20 cricket, the fielding standards have to be up there. Too many catches were dropped, and as you said, it's difficult to put it on just one thing. But a lot of character shown to come back from there was really good (on Urvil's knock)," he added.
Urvil Patel's explosive innings
Pant also praised Urvil Patel's remarkable 13-ball fifty, which matched the impact of Josh Inglis's earlier 85 for LSG during the powerplay. "That's the only thing. Urvil played a fantastic, unbelievable knock like Inglis for us. We knew in the power play, someone had to take that charge, and that's what Inglis did for us," Pant said.
"For CSK, it was Urvil. But at the same time, the team showed a lot of character. Definitely some areas where we can work out, but kudos to CSK. They held on to their nerves better than we," he remarked.
LSG's batting performance
Regarding LSG's total of 203, Pant mentioned that they had aimed for a higher score but acknowledged that conditions became more challenging after the powerplay. "Definitely, given how we started, we would have liked to aim for more, but we knew close to 200-210 would be a good target. They got off to a flyer in the power play. But at the same time, we knew that it was getting difficult, and after the power play, the ball was getting older, and it was sort of difficult to bat on the wicket," he explained.
Bowling decisions under scrutiny
Pant also addressed his late bowling changes, including the consideration of using Shahbaz Ahmed in the final over. "That came to my mind (on using Shahbaz Ahmed in the final over), but two lefties batting, it was a tough call to have. You've got to back someone who can just go over us, and again, as Markram has for a lot of times for us in the past years, also," he said.
The defeat leaves LSG with areas to improve as they look ahead to their next fixtures in the tournament.
