4/8/24, 11:49 AM IPL 2024 - How Lucknow Super Giants mastered the art of defending totals | ESPNcricinfo

pitches LSG usually play on or the quicker, higher-bouncing red-soil surface they occasionally use,
Lucknow is seldom a straightforward ground to bat on, and consequently to chase on.

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LSG captain KL Rahul is aware of this.

"Yeah, it's a good record to have, obviously, but also it's where we've played, the conditions we've
played [in]," he said at the post-match presentation on Sunday. "The last time we played here in
Lucknow we all saw how the wickets were, it's a very low-scoring wicket, low-scoring ground, so we've
defended quite well there, and having that home advantage obviously helps a little bit.

"And yes, the bowlers have come through the ranks in the last couple of years. You've seen the same
guys playing last season as well, and they've adjusted to their roles, and they're reading the wickets
really well, and that's something that I try to speak to them a lot more off the field, and even at practice
and even in the nets, just to try and get them ready to make the right choices in the ground when the
pressure is on. I think they're doing that really well, so yeah, hopefully we can continue this."

But this is not even half the story, because only four of LSG's 15 bat-first wins have come in Lucknow.
They've defended and won on a variety of away and neutral grounds as well.

Make par-plus totals

MS Dhoni coined the term "par-plus total", and it came to stand for something of a defining
philosophy. The teams he captained at Chennai Super Kings tended to have strong spin attacks suited
to the conditions at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, and they tended to bat in a way that made sure
they usually put up totals that their bowlers could work with, even if their batters didn't always set your
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