Chennai, May 10 (IANS) Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain Rishabh Pant admitted his side’s fielding lapses proved costly as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) held their nerve to chase down 204 and hand the visitors a five‑wicket defeat in a high-scoring IPL 2026 clash at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.

Though LSG took the game to the final over, their drops of Urvil Patel (on 62) and Prashant Veer (twice on nine) hurt them, with the side now starting at the possibility of being the first team to be eliminated from IPL 2026.

“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.

“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),” Pant said after the match ended.

Pant also praised Urvil’s explosive record 13-ball fifty for CSK, which mirrored Josh Inglis’s powerplay assault while making a blistering 85 for LSG. “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.

“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.

Reflecting on LSG’s batting effort, Pant said his side fell short of their intended target despite a strong start. “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.”

Pant also defended his decision-making in terms of choosing bowlers in the final overs. “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 concluded.

–IANS

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