CHENNAI:
Marcus Stoinis
has threatened a few times, but no one expected him to pull off a chase of this magnitude. And definitely not in CSK's den - the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
The Aussie allrounder smashed an outstanding 124 not out off 63 balls (13x4, 6x6) that helped Lucknow Super Giants pull off the biggest chase ever at Chepauk, eventually winning by six wickets. They reached the target of 211 with three balls to spare, with
Stoinis
destroying CSK's death-over specialists
Mustafizur Rahman
and Matheesha Pathirana.
Mustafizur had 17 runs to play with in the last over but Stoinis started with a six and the Bangladesh bowler didn't know where to hide. He tried bowling the yorker but the Aussie went deep into the crease and played over the bowler's head for four, taking the game away from the hosts. It helped Lucknow do the double on CSK in a span of five days, leaving
Ruturaj Gaikwad
's men outside the top four for the first time this season.
While Stoinis was outstanding at the end,
Nicholas Pooran
(34 off 15 balls) provided the momentum in the middle overs. When Pooran got out off Pathirana in the 17th over, CSK fans may have thought they have dodged a bullet. But Stoinis had other ideas as he and Deepak Hooda took 15 off the 19th over bowled by Pathirana. And then it was down to the Aussie to show why he is one of the best finishers around.
But before all that, it was a Ruturaj show as he became the first-ever CSK skipper to score a century. His 108 not out off 60 balls was the cornerstone of CSK's solid 210-4 in 20 overs.
Shivam Dube
(66 of 27 balls) also playing a characteristic cameo to help CSK race away at the back end of the innings.
But the first 10 overs were all about Ruturaj. He lost opening partner Ajinkya Rahane early, while Daryl Mitchell at No. 3 couldn't make much of the life that he got when he was on 4. But losing a couple of early wickets hardly bothered Ruturaj. He was at his free-flowing best, hitting those crisp shots that kept finding the gaps. Ruturaj chose not to take undue risks against the likes of Matt Henry and Mohsin Khan and the best thing about his innings was his ability to play along the ground.
Knowing the Chepauk conditions well, Ruturaj understands that trying to use brute force here could sometimes be counter-productive. That measured approach, without compromising on the pace of the innings, helped CSK recover quite well after the initial hiccup.
When leggie Ravi Bishnoi was introduced in the fourth over, Ruturaj attacked him straight away with a couple of trademark drives.
English (US) ·