Stoinis' maiden IPL ton propels LSG to 6-wkt win over CSK
Marcus Stoinis reacts after scoring his maiden IPL century
Chennai: In a ton-for-ton response, Marcus Stoinis scored his maiden IPL century to overcome Ruturaj Gaikwad's hundred for Chennai Super Kings and helped Lucknow Super Giants to a six-wicket victory in Match 39 of the Indian Premier League at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Tuesday.
Coming in after the fall of the first wicket in the first over, Stoinis hammered a 63-ball 124 not out as Lucknow Super Giants romped to 213/4 after Giakwad's 60-ball 108 not out helped Chennai Super Kings to 210/4 in 20 overs.
Chasing a big target, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) suffered an early setback as Quinton de Kock got out for a duck. The batter went for a cut only to chop it back onto his stumps to the swinging delivery outside off. In the first four games of the season, KL Rahul scored at a strike rate of 125.49 in the Power-play. But after that, he smashed it at 185.11 in this phase.
He was looking dangerous once again. After an early wicket, Rahul and Marcus Stoinis kept LSG's chase on track but Mustafizur Rahman pegged them back. Having hit a four earlier in the over, Rahul went for another big hit but failed to clear Gaikwad at extra cover. Rahut got out after scoring 16. LSG were 45/2 at the end of six overs as Stoinis continued ticking the scoreboard.
Devdutt Padikkal came in as an Impact Player. He has struggled for runs this IPL, and it was the same story against CSK as he was on 12 off 16 balls.
Meanwhile, Stoinis has been keeping LSG in the contest almost singlehandedly. He brought up his fifty off 26 balls, with the help of six fours and two sixes. But it's still an uphill task. LSG were 83/2 after 10 overs and needed 128 from the next ten. A length ball at 151.4 kph in the line of leg stump from Mateesha Pathirana and Padikkal had no answer to it. He backed away but was beaten by pace and had his leg stump uprooted. He departed for 13 off 19 balls. LSG were 88/3 after 11, needing 123 from nine overs.
Brief score: Chennai Super Kings 210/4 in 20 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 108 not out, Shivam Dube 66; Matt Henry 1-28, Yash Thakur 1-47) lost to Lucknow Super Giants 213/4 in 19.3 overs (Marcus Stoinis 124 not out, Nicholas Pooran 34; Matheesa Pathirana 2-35, Deepak Chahar 1-11) by six wickets.