Chasing 218 for victory on a good track was not going to be easy, but it was not going to be an impossible one.
With Lucknow Super Giants boasting players of the calibre of K L Rahul, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran and the impressive Kyle Mayers, the odds were not completely stacked against them.
With the manner in which Rahul and Mayers took off, especially against Chennai Super Kings main pacer Deepak Chahar, LSG were looking good at chasing down the total with ease -- they raced to 80 for 1 in 6 overs.
Even after losing Mayers, Hooda and Rahul in a space of three overs, Lucknow were never going to give up. They had a few big shots off the bats of Krunal Pandya and Stoinis.
Stoinis may have gotten out for 21 off 18 in the 14th over with the asking rate over LSG's head, but Pooran kept LSG's belief.
Within no time he sent Rajvardhan Hangargekar to the cleaners, taking 15 off the over with a couple of fours and a six.
Along with the big shots, Pooran kept the scoreboard moving with singles and twos.
With 77 needed off the last 6 overs, LSG would have fancied their chances with Pooran still at the crease. In the 15th over, Pooran sent the fielders to chase leather as he hit Ravindra Jadeja for 14 runs.
Pooran was in the zone and all he needed were a couple of big overs and LSG would have done the job.
However, CSK's Impact Player Tushar Deshpande made true his role, having Pooran to hole out to Ben Stokes in the deep in the 16th over to end any hopes LSG's were harbouring of a win.
Deshpande proved to be a good gamble and his dismissal of Pooran at a crucial stage was a game changer.
