Sensational Stoinis helps LSG stun CSK
A magnificent counter-attacking maiden IPL century from Marcus Stoinis (124* off 63) helped Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pull off a stunning chase of 211 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday.
Stoinis pulled LSG out of trouble from 33/2 and played a majestic knock, keeping the runs flowing at one end.
Nicholas Pooran (34 off 15) and Deepak Hooda (17* off 6) played handy knocks under pressure in helping Stoinis take LSG past the finish line.
It was fitting that with 17 needed off the last over, Stoinis took it upon himself to see LSG through as he smashed 6, 4, 4, 4 off Mustafizur Rahman to finish the game off in style as LSG pulled off the highest run-chase in IPL at Chepauk.
Earlier, Ruturaj Gaikwad became the first CSK captain to register a century in IPL as he put on an exhibition of elegant strokes and added a mammoth 104-run stand off just 46 balls with Shivam Dube to power CSK to 210/4 from 20 overs.
Gaikwad remained unbeaten on 108 off 60 balls as CSK hit 91 off the final six overs. Dube walked in at No. 5 with CSK losing steam through the middle overs, but upped the run scoring rate with a 27-ball 66. Before his arrival, Ravindra Jadeja and Daryl Mitchell combined to score only 21 in 29 balls.
Following the defeat, Gaekwad said: “Tough pill to swallow. But a good game of cricket. LSG played really well in the back end. We had the game in control till the 13th14th over but hats off to Stoinis. He played brilliantly.
“Dew played a part. I feel it was a slightly huge amount of dew and took our spinners away from the game. If there was no dew, we could have controlled the middle phase and taken the game deeper. It’s part of cricket. You really can’t change the non-controllable. Long way to go in the tournament.”
After completing the double over CSK in the league phase, KL Rahul said LSG’s victory at Chepauk felt “super special.”
“Very special, especially when it’s a game like that,” LSG skipper Rahul said. “A total of 210-plus runs were scored on either side. Felt like, for most of the innings when we were batting, we were way behind in the game and just to pull off a victory like that .... super special.
[Beating CSK earlier] didn’t make a difference, it was a fresh start. Both teams started on zero and there were different conditions here. They got off to a really good start here. And put pressure on our bowlers to get 210 on that pitch, I didn’t think it was a 200+ wicket, felt 170-180 was a good total on that pitch.
“They batted well and we didn’t start well, but all credit to Stoinis. The way he batted. Phenomenal to watch from outside. Not just power hitting, but also very smart batting.”
After suffering back-to-back defeats against LSG - and their third loss in their last five matches - CSK have slipped to fifth on the points table after eight games. LSG have climbed to fourth with ten points from eight games.