Images from the IPL 2023 match between Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants at the Punjab Cricket Association I S Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Friday.
Marcus Stoinis and Kyle Mayers put on a power-hitting masterclass as Lucknow Super Giants slayed Punjab Kings by 56 runs in a high-scoring contest in Mohali on Friday after amassing the second highest total in IPL history.
A display of brutal hitting from Kyle Mayers and Marcus Stoinis fired Lucknow Super Giants to a record 257/5 -- the second highest total in IPL history -- against a profligate Punjab Kings.
Mayers went on the rampage in the Powerplay to blast his way to 54 off 24 balls before Stoinis hammered 72 off 40 as he effortlessly collected boundaries to power LSG to the highest total in IPL 2023.
Needing almost 13 runs per over to pull off an improbable chase, Punjab remained behind in the game despite scoring at a decent rate to end with 201 in 19.5 overs.
Atharava Taide batted well to stroke 66 off 36 balls -- his maiden fifty in the IPL, but the likes of Liam Livingstone (36 off 22) and Sikandar Raza (23 off 14) could not stay long enough to put pressure on the opposition.
Skipper Shikhar Dhawan lasted only two balls on his return. Young pacer Yash Thakur was the most successful bowler for LSG with figures of 4/37 in 4 overs.
It was LSG's fifth win in eight matches to jump to second in the points table, while Punjab Kings suffered their fourth loss in eight games.
At 152/4 in 15 overs,Punjab were striking at more than 10 runs per over but task of getting another 106 runs from the last 30 balls was beyond the reach of even Livingstone and Sam Curran (21 off 11).
Earlier, Mayers went on the rampage in the Powerplay to blast his way to 54 off 24 balls before Stoinis hammered 72 off 40 as he effortlessly collected boundaries at will to help his team set a massive target.
The other important contributions came from Ayush Badoni (43 off 24) and Nicholas Pooran (45 off 19).
Back to lead Punjab after three games, Shikhar Dhawan opted to field but his bowlers were all over the place on a belter of a track.
Barring Rahul Chahar, all the other six bowlers leaked more than 10 runs per over. The usually frugal Arshdeep Singh leaked 54 runs in four overs and Kagiso Rabada gave away 52 runs in four overs although he had two wickets to show for his efforts.
The total was also the highest of IPL 2023 and six runs shy of the all-time record of 263, achieved by Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in 2013 when Chris Gayle played his epic 175-run knock from just 66 balls.
LSG skipper K L Rahul was the only batter, who could not make use of the ideal batting conditions. He was dropped on the first ball of the match off debutant Gurnoor Brar but could not make it count as he perished for 12 from nine balls.
Mayers looked in menacing tough from the get go as he smashed Arshdeep for four boundaries in his opening over. He started with a gorgeous drive through point before using his long levers to target the long-on and midwicket region, collecting seven fours and four sixes in total.
Such was his confidence and he took a couple of strides forward to dispatch fast bowler Rabada just over his head.
After Mayers fell inside the Powerplay, Stoinis and Badoni shared an 89-run stand off only 47 balls to maintain the momentum created by Mayers.
Stoinis played some breathtaking strokes in his belligerent knock that included five sixes and half a dozen boundaries.
Stoinis could have been dismissed in the 13th over but Liam Livingstone touched the boundary while trying to take a regulation catch at long-on.
Pooran began his innings with three back to back off drives off Livingstone as he ensured LSG didn't lose the momentum.
Courtesy of Pooran and Badoni, LSG smashed as many as 73 runs from the last five overs.
