Two in two for LSG

CHENNAI: Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) secured back-to-back victories as Marcus Stoinis’s maiden century outshone Ruturaj Gaikwad’s efforts, leading the visitors to triumph against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

The partnership of Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul, which was a headache for CSK last week, was not destined for a repeat on Tuesday as Deepak Chahar sent de Kock packing for one run. Soon after, LSG suffered another setback as Gaikwad caught KL Rahul at extra cover, courtesy of Mustafizur Rahman, who is having an excellent tournament, striking in his very first over.

Marcus Stoinis was accumulating runs steadily for LSG as he reached his half-century in the tenth over.

Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran put up a half-century partnership, shifting the pressure onto CSK as the home crowd turned to their prayer books. Their prayers were answered as CSK wasted no time and introduced Matheesha Pathirana, who scalped the wicket of Nicholas Pooran.

But the break in partnership didn’t help CSK as Stoinis bettered his personal best and also picked up his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) century, guiding the visitors to a six-wicket victory with three balls to spare.

Earlier, Gaikwad was back in the opening mix for CSK as World Cup hero Rachin Ravindra made way, but once again, the power-play wasn’t kind to the host as Ajinkya Rahane had to depart after making one run, courtesy of an amazing one-handed catch behind the wicket by KL Rahul.

LSG were close to removing Daryl Mitchell in the second over, but Yash Thakur dropped him at short third. However, Yash redeemed himself by removing Mitchell in the sixth over as Deepak Hooda held onto a strong pull shot at midwicket.

Jadeja came up the order, and at the end of the power-play, CSK was placed at 49/2. There was a big shout for LBW from Marcus Stoinis for Jadeja. KL Rahul initially hesitated because of the height of the ball but was talked into it by his teammates. However, the ball hit above the pad and was signalled not out. Gaikwad looked all the more comfortable from the get-go playing the role of aggressor as he brought up his half-century towards the end of the ninth over. In a pitch where the ball wasn’t coming onto the bat, Gaikwad looked resplendent as he brought up a fifty partnership with Jadeja in the twelfth over, but the partnership was snapped soon after by a slow bouncer by Mohsin Khan as KL Rahul took an easy catch behind the wicket to dismiss Jadeja.

Shivam Dube came on to dispatch Stoinis for a maximum, the man who dismissed him last week. The game started opening up more in the fifteenth over, and it took 44 balls for Gaikwad to hit his first six of the innings as he smashed it over midwicket. Dube carried on his six-hitting ways with back-to-back sixes in the sixteenth over as CSK brought up 150 runs on the board, rubbing salt on Yash who’s been a bit costly on the night. A boundary in the eighteenth over brought up Gaikwad’s century; he was on the field since the first ball, and his knock was valuable for CSK, racking up some important runs after a slow start in the powerplay. With the century on Tuesday, he also surpassed his personal best of 101 runs and also became the skipper with the fastest century for CSK. Dube and Gaikwad were dealing in sixes towards the end as Dube brought up his half-century, and the duo brought up its hundred partnership in 44 balls. Dube was run out as the crowd stood up on its feet, and MS Dhoni walked out to give the crowd its ‘paisa vasool’ by smashing a four to close the first innings.

BRIEF SCORES: Chennai Super Kings 210/4 in 20 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 108*, Shivam Dube 66) lost to Lucknow Super Giants 213/4 in 19.3 overs (Marcus Stoinis 124*)