Marcus Stoinis elated as his 124 trumps Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 108 as LSG do the double over CSK

Marcus Stoinis of the Lucknow Super Giants scored his first Indian Premier League (IPL) century as his unbeaten 124 off just 63 balls helped LSG register a six-wicket win over the Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday.

Stoinis stitched two match-winning partnerships—70 in 34 balls with Nicholas Pooran and an unbeaten 55 in 19 balls with Deepak Hooda—to help LSG do the double over CSK. This was also the highest-ever successful run chase at the home of the Chennai Super Kings, bettering the 206 that CSK scored over RCB in 2012.

Stoinis’ well paced innings consisted of 13 fours and six sixes, and he now holds the highest individual score in an IPL chase, bettering Paul Valthaty’s 120 against CSK in 2011.

LSG skipper KL Rahul doffed his hat to Stoinis and said it was smart batting from the Australian that helped his team win the match. “All credits to Stoinis. He was phenomenal to watch. It was not just power hitting, but was smart batting. He picked his bowlers and played very well,” he said at the presentation ceremony.

It was a bit of a surprise to see Stoinis walk in at number three in the chase, and Rahul threw light on the decision. “We wanted to be a lot more brave as a team. We had three games, a couple at home, and some away where we couldn’t go past 170. We needed one power hitter in the top three. That was the thought process (to send Stoinis at number three),” Rahul explained.

Stoinis, who was rightly awarded the Player-of-the-Match, threw light on how he went about his innings. “It is not just go-go-go. There were some bowlers we wanted to target and some against whom we were cautious. It was an ebb and flow innings, just tried to keep it in control. There was a phase where I wasn’t able to hit the boundaries, so it was great (Nicholas) Pooran could come in and take the pressure off. He played a good innings, and Hooda too (supported well),” the Australian said.

Hooda, who remained unbeaten on 17 off just 6 balls, said Stoinis is a great motivator. “He was too good, and he was like a warrior. He was there from the second over, and his knock was a kind of motivation for us. We knew that we were 100% in the game, and the dugout was sure that we are going to fight and win the game,” Hooda said after the match.