Giant loss for Punjab
Deepankar Sharda
Mohali, April 28
After failing to chase down a 136-run target in their previous match, Lucknow Super Giants’ batters showed their might by achieving a record-breaking total on their way to a comfortable victory over hosts Punjab Kings in the IPL here today.
Led by Marcus Stoinis, LSG’s batting line-up demolished Kings’ bowlers to score 257/5 after being asked to bat first. Stoinis smashed 72 off 40 balls as he carried forward the explosive start provided by opener Kyle Mayers (54 off 24 balls). Stoinis got full support from Ayush Badoni (43 off 24 balls) and Nicholas Pooran (45 off 19 balls).
LSG ended up scoring the highest IPL total at the venue and the second-highest total in the tournament’s history.
Debutant pacer Gurnoor Brar bore the brunt, conceding 42 runs in three overs. Punjab’s top bowlers didn’t fare any better as Arshdeep Singh conceded 54 runs and Kagiso Rabada gave away 52 runs off their four overs each.
Chasing the mammoth target, Punjab had a poor start as captain Shikhar Dhawan, returning from an injury, was dismissed off the fifth ball of the innings.
Atharva Taide was the only batsman to brave the LSG attack as he scored 66 off 36 balls. Fighting knocks from Sikandar Raza (36), Liam Livingstone (26), Jitesh Sharma (34) and Sam Curran (23) proved too little for Punjab as the hosts were bowled out for 201.
Brief scores: Lucknow Super Giants: 257/5 (Stoinis 72, Mayers 54, Pooran 45; Rabada 2/52); Punjab Kings: 201 in 19.5 overs (Taide 66; Yash 4/37).
257Lucknow Super Giants surpassed the previous highest total of 240 runs set by Chennai Super Kings in 2008 at the IS Bindra PCA Stadium.
2Lucknow achieved second-highest total after Royal Challengers Bangalore (263 scored in 2016) in the IPL history.
14LSG’s innings witnessed 14 sixes and 27 boundaries. Stoinis and Mayers hit more sixes than the entire Punjab team.
