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Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant praised Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Urvil Patel for his "fantastic and unbelievable" knock that helped the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led team secure a five-wicket win over LSG in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 match on Sunday.
Urvil etched his name in the record books as he slammed the joint-fastest fifty in IPL history, equalling Yashasvi Jaiswal. The CSK batter slammed a fifty off just 13 balls at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here. With CSK chasing the target of 204, Urvil scored a 23-ball 65-run knock, laced with eight sixes and two boundaries. After the match, Pant praised Urvil's outstanding innings, calling it "fantastic and unbelievable," and compared its impact to Josh Inglis' explosive knock for LSG. Pant said LSG showed good character by fighting back into the game, but admitted there were still areas needing improvement. He credited CSK for handling pressure better and also pointed out poor fielding and dropped catches as key factors in the defeat. "Urvil played a fantastic and unbelievable knock, like Inglis for us. The team showed character (to come back). Definitely few areas to work on, but kudos to CSK - they held their nerve better than us. The way we started, we would have liked to have more. We knew 200-210 would be a good target. They got off to a flyer, but we knew it was getting difficult after the power play. Fielding standards have to be up there, too many dropped catches," Pant said at the post-match presentations. CSK got off to a flying start through skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson and Urvil. Samson scored 28 off 14 before being dismissed, while Gaikwad contributed a steady 42 off 28 balls. Despite some tight overs from LSG late in the innings, Shivam Dube (15*) finished the chase in style with two sixes in the final over. Earlier, LSG posted 203/8 after a blistering start led by Josh Inglis, who smashed 85 off 33 balls and scored a 17-ball half-century. However, CSK fought back strongly through Jamie Overton (3/36), Anshul Kamboj (2/47), and Noor Ahmad (1/24), restricting LSG after their explosive powerplay. The win lifted CSK to fifth place on the IPL table with six wins from 11 matches, while LSG stayed at the bottom with just three wins from 11 games. (ANI)
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