Marcus Stoinis’ phenomenal innings, comprising 124 runs off just 63 balls, overshadowed Ruturaj Gaikwad’s century and propelled Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to a thrilling six-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Match 39 of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday, 23 April.
Chasing a target of 211 runs, the hosts rode on Stoinis’ remarkable century to secure the win with three balls remaining.
Starting the chase, the LSG batters faced an early setback as opener Quinton de Kock departed on a duck, falling victim to Deepak Chahar’s delivery on just the third ball of the innings. Marcus Stoinis then joined forces with captain KL Rahul, forming a 33-run partnership until Rahul fell in the 5th over to a delivery from Mustafizur Rahman. Rahul managed 16 runs off 14 balls before being caught at extra-cover by his counterpart.
Devdutt Padikkal then partnered with Stoinis, constructing another resilient partnership for the visitors. Together, they accumulated 55 runs off 39 deliveries before Padikkal was dismissed by Pathirana on the final ball of the 10th over. Meanwhile, Stoinis reached his fifty in the 10th over, taking 26 deliveries to achieve the milestone.
After 16 overs, LSG’s scorecard read 157/3.
Matheesha Pathirana provided another breakthrough for CSK by dismissing the Nicholas Pooran who looked in sublime touch. Pooran, aiming for a big shot, ended up offering a straightforward catch to Thakur. He departed the crease after contributing 24 runs off just 15 balls. Both Pooran and Stoinis had stitched a robust 70-run stand off 34 deliveries.
After Nicholas Pooran’s dismissal, Deepak Hooda strode to the crease. In the 18th over of the match, Marcus Stoinis electrified the field by smashing his maiden IPL century in a mere 56 balls. Meanwhile, Hooda showcased his prowess with a six to conclude the 18th over, following it up with a boundary to start off the penultimate over with. Hooda then slammed to more boundaries in the over.
Stoinis launched the final over with a powerful six, setting the tone for what was to come. He then hammered three consecutive boundaries. Adding to the drama, the third delivery was deemed a no ball. Stoinis capitalised on the opportunity, driving the subsequent free hit for another boundary, securing a sensational 6-wicket victory for the visiting team. He remained unbeaten at 124 runs off just 63 deliveries.
Earlier in the day, Ruturaj Gaikwad slammed his second century of the IPL career while Shivam Dube blazed to a blistering 66 off 27 deliveries, which took Chennai Super Kings to 210/4.
Asked to bat first by the visitors, Chennai suffered an early setback as Matt Henry provided LSG the first breakthrough as took Ajinkya Rahane’s wicket.
Chennai Super Kings were 48/1 after five overs. It was a mixed bag of a day in the field for LSG. While Rahul took an excellent catch, Thakur dropped Mitchell at short third and Henry failed to grab a much difficult chance at the same position.
Later, Deepak Hooda took a superb catch to dismiss Daryl Mitchell. It was a short of a length delivery from Thakur and Mitchell went for the pull. He struck it alright but didn’t get the desired elevation as Hooda showed great reflexes at short midwicket and took it.
Mitchell departed after scoring 11 runs. Ravindra Jadeja was the new batter. CSK were 85/2 after 10 overs.
It was a slower ball from Mohsin Khan, bowled into the surface as it angled across Jadeja, who went for the pull but only got a glove to it as Rahul completed an easy catch behind the wicket.
CSK were 103/3 after 12 overs with Gaikwad motoring along on 71 off 39 balls. The other batters managed to contribute only 30 off 33 deliveries.
The in-form Shivam Dube walked to the crease and straightaway sent his fourth delivery for the first maximum of the innings, which came after 12.5 overs. Dube latched onto Yash Thakur and hammered him for three successive sixes in the 16th over.
Dube moved to 37 off just 15 balls, and CSK were 154/3 after 16.
It was an excellent innings from Gaikwad – he slammed his sixth hundred in T20 cricket, which came off 56 balls, after a sequence of 6, 4, 4 against Yash Thakur.
In the 19th over, Dube smashed two fours and a six against Mohsin and brought up his fifty off just 22 balls. Both batters added 104 runs for the fourth-wicket partnership in just 46 deliveries.
Dube started the final over with a six off Stoinis but was run out for 66 off 27 with two balls left in the innings. That brought MS Dhoni to the middle.
Gaikwad took a single on the penultimate ball and Dhoni, as he has done throughout this season, finished off in style with a boundary.
