In a major blow to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Marcus Stoinis was forced to receive treatment on his index finger and then underwent scans for an injury after his team's 56-run victory over the Punjab Kings (PBKS) during their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match in Mohali on Friday, April 29.
The Australian was their hero on the night with both the ball and bat. With the bat, he scored 72 off 40 balls and with the ball, he got rid of Shikhar Dhawan in the first over of the chase. He was adjudged the Player-of-the-Match for his performance but it would have been even sweeter if he had not hurt his finger while trying to make a stop in his follow-through.
Stoinis hurt his finger in his second over of the match while trying to intercept an Atharva Taide shot. The ball hit his left index finger and walked off the field after initial treatment by the physio. "It's been better but yeah, it is what it is," Stoinis said after the game. "We will get a scan later."
Meanwhile, it was a perfect night for LSG, who bounced back from their loss to the Gujarat Titans (GT) as skipper KL Rahul believed that the gap between the two games helped the players take their minds off the defeat and come back stronger. "The last game was a bit of a downer and did hurt a lot of us as a team but we had three or four days break after that which was good. Everyone got their minds off cricket and just rested."
Match recap:
Powerful knocks from Kyle Mayers (54), Ayush Badoni (43), Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran (45) helped the visitors post a massive 257 for 5, the second-highest total in IPL history and the highest this season. Stoinis scored the most with the bat
In response, Kings could manage only 201.
Speaking about his stand of 89 in 47 balls with Badoni for the third wicket, Stoinis said, "We were joking about the difference between that and our surface at home, and how we can cash in and take advantage of this beautiful batting wicket.
"No, I wasn't [thinking about 250]. I don't think Ayush was either. We were just trying to build a partnership. He got off to a flyer as well and was hitting some nice shots; he's a very talented player. We were just trying to keep building on that and that was our only focus.
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