Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis played the best innings of his Indian Premier League (IPL) career to guide Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to a thrilling six-wicket win in Chepauk. Stoinis remained unbeaten on 124 in the run chase of 211 to break former Punjab Kings (PBKS) batter Paul Valthaty’s 13-year-old record. Stoinis now holds the record for highest individual score in an IPL run chase.
Valthaty had scored an unbeaten 120 off 63 balls under Adam Gilchrist's captaincy. Interestingly, the knock came against MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2011.
Sehwag’s record broken too
Stoinis broke Virender Sehwag’s record of highest score by a batter against CSK. Sehwag scored 122 against CSK at Wankhede Stadium in IPL 2014.
Stoinis' unbeaten 124 is the second-highest score by an Australian batter in the IPL. David Warner holds the record with a 126-run knock for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2017. Also, it is the second-highest score by a LSG batter. Quinton de Kock’s unbeaten 140 against KKR in IPL 2022 is on the top.
Highest run chase in Chepauk
The run chase of 211 is the highest at Chepauk in the IPL. The previous best belonged to the home side. They chased down the target of 205 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in IPL 2012. There have been two more 200-plus successful run chases at the venue.
After the win, Stoinis credited Nicholas Pooran for taking the pressure off him.
“In these competitions, there are plenty of better opening batters better than me so I’ll leave it to them. It’s not just go go go, there were some bowlers we wanted to target and some bowlers we wanted to be more cautious against. There was a phase where I wasn’t able to hit the boundaries so it was great Pooran could come in and take the pressure off," he said in the post-match presentation.
“Lots of ebbs and flows, just tried to keep it in control. You’re planning and structuring, you're not liking certain bowlers and you’re liking others more. I do think T20 cricket is changing, the scores that have been scored, the impact player role and how teams are taking on the bowlers,” he added.
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