Chennai Super Kings’ pace spearhead Khaleel Ahmed continued to rattle the opposition’s top order in the first over and extended his supremacy against Lucknow Super Giants on Monday in the ongoing 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Khaleel has been Chennai’s prime weapon with the new ball. His knack for scything wickets in the opening over of the innings was yet against evident in Lucknow. After Chennai skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl, Khaleel was handed the ball with hopes of kicking off the game with a blistering start.

On the final delivery of the over, he lured Aiden Markram to whip the ball away, which forced out a top edge. Rahul Tripathi sprinted towards the landing spot and took a clean catch to punch South Africa’s return ticket to the dressing room on 6(6).

This was the fourth instance of the left-armer striking in the first over in the IPL 2025, the most by any bowlers in the tournament. Before making an early impact against Lucknow, he outclassed Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians openers.

When CSK squared off against Delhi, Khaleel removed Jake Fraser-McGurk on a five-ball duck after the young Australian mistimed his shot and holed it to Ravichandran Ashwin. During Chennai’s encounter against the Royals, Khaleel outfoxed Yashasvi Jaiswal by luring him to go for a drive shot, but a vigilant Ashwin took a reverse cup catch, ending the youngster’s time on the crease on 4(3).

While in CSK’s campaign-opener against their arch-rival Mumbai Indians, Khaleel caught the big fish by removing the seasoned opener Rohit Sharma for a four-ball duck in the opening over.

The speedster who stands closest to Khaleel in terms of making an early impact is English teraway Jofra Archer. The Rajasthan Royals speedster has three dismissals in the opening over in the ongoing season of the cash-rich league. Meanwhile, MI’s Trent Boult, LSG’s Shardul Thakur and Gujarat Titans’ Mohammed Siraj have two wickets each in the opening over.

Khaleel finished with figures of 1/38 in his four-over spell. He could have had his second in his final over, but Rasheed spilled the catch, heading skipper Rishabh Pant a lifeline as LSG hammered 166/7 on the board.