Lucknow Beats Punjab In A Run Fest
As Lucknow Super Giants amassed the second-highest total in IPL history on Friday, they defeated Punjab Kings by 56 runs in a high-scoring match thanks in large part to the power-hitting masterclass of Marcus Stoinis and Kyle Mayers.
Mayers (54 off 24) and Stoinis (72 off 40) put on a punishing hitting exhibition that propelled Lucknow Super Giants to 257 for five. Despite scoring at a respectable rate to reach 201 in 19.5 overs, Punjab was still trailing the game despite needing almost 13 runs per over to mount an unlikely recovery.
Atharava Taide played effectively in the field, scoring 66 off 36 balls, his first fifty-plus score in the IPL. However, players like Liam Livingstone (36 off 22) and Sikandar Raza (23 off 14) were unable to bat for a long enough period of time to exert pressure on the opponent.
Shikhar Dhawan, the captain, only played two balls after returning. The most effective bowler was the young pacer Yash Thakur, who finished with 4/37 in 4 overs.
LSG had won five of the previous eight games, while Punjab Kings had lost four of those contests. Even Livingstone and Sam Curran (21 off 11), who were scoring at more than 10 runs per over when Punjab reached 152 for four in 15 overs, were unable to complete the objective of scoring 106 runs in the final 30 balls.
Before Stoinis effortlessly collected boundaries at will to help his team set a significant goal, Mayers went on the rampage in the Powerplay. Nicholas Pooran (45 off 19) and Ayush Badoni (43 off 24) made contributed well.
Dhawan was back in as captain after 3 games, so he decided to field, but his bowlers were not able to perform on that flat pitch.
All six of the other bowlers, with the exception of Rahul Chahar, allowed more than 10 runs per over. Arshdeep Singh, who is often thrifty, let up 54 runs in four overs, and Kagiso Rabada gave up 52 runs in four overs despite taking two wickets.
The total was also the highest of the year and fell six runs short of 263, which was set by RCB in 2013 when Chris Gayle played his historic 175-run performance to set an IPL record.
The only batter who was unable to take advantage of the favorable batting conditions was LSG captain K L Rahul (12 off 9). He was dropped by newcomer Gurnoor Brar on the first pitch of the game, but he was unable to capitalise.
Mayers came across as intimidating and tough as soon as he hammered four boundaries off of Arshdeep in his first over. He started off by smashing a beautiful drive beyond point, and after that, he used his long levers to hit deep mid-wicket and long on, scoring seven fours and four sixes. Such was his self-assurance that he moved a few steps forward to take out Rabada directly over his head.
Stoinis and Badoni exchanged an 89-run deadlock with only 47 balls to maintain the momentum started by Mayers after he was knocked out during the Powerplay. In his ferocious knock, which featured five sixes and a half-dozen boundaries, Stoinis played some breath-taking strokes.
In the 13th over, Stoinis may have been out but Liam Livingstone touched the boundary while attempting to take a legal catch at long on. Pooran started his inning by hitting three consecutive line drives off Livingstone. 73 runs were scored by LSG off the final 30 balls.
