Credit: X
Marcus Stoinis' 120 overpowered Ruturaj Gaikwad's 108 to help the Lucknow Super Giants beat the Chennai Super Kings by six wickets at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium. With this performance, Stoinis registered the highest individual score while chasing in the IPL. This victory also helped Lucknow to consolidate themselves at the fourth spot on the table.
After losing the toss, Chennai Super Kings got off to a shaky start as they lost Ajinkya Rahane in the first over. Soon Lucknow struck again as Yash Thakur dismissed Daryl Mitchell at the end of the powerplay. With LSG on top, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ravindra Jadeja, who was also struggling.
The duo added 42 as Gaikwad reached his 50 in the ninth over. After Jadeja's dismissal, Shivam Dube arrived and turned the tide for the Super Kings. Gaikwad and Dube added 104 and took Chennai to a competitive total of 210. During this brilliant partnership, the CSK skipper completed his second IPL century and remained not out at 108 at the end of the innings.
Chasing this total, Lucknow also had a horrid start as Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul were back in the pavilion at a score of 33. But Marcus Stoinis held one end up while the impact-sub Devdutt Paddikkal continued his struggles. Soon the Karnataka youngster was cleaned up and in walked Nicholas Pooran. The West Indian, with the Aussie all-rounder, carried LSG out of trouble.
Pooran chipped in with a valuable 34 in 15 before getting out but the stage was set for Stoinis as he completed his century and won the game for Lucknow. The Australian ended up with a 124-run knock in 63 balls with 13 fours and sixes which carried LSG to a six-wicket win.