Punjab Kings couldn’t overhaul the daunting target 258 in Mohali, falling short by 56 runs in the end. of The edifice of the gargantuan total posted by Lucknow Super Giants was built on four superb knocks – Marcus Stonis 72(40), Kyle Mayers 54 (24), Ayush Badoni 43 (24) and Nicholas Pooran 45 (19). That amounts to strike rates of 225, 179.17, 180 and 236.84 respectively.
If the numbers alone don’t leave your mind in a tizzy, let’s throw ‘context’ into the fray – only once has a team had a bigger score after 15 overs since the inception of the league and that came in the humdinger where Chris Gayle smashed a colossal 175. Nicholas Pooran walked out to epitomise Lucknow Super Giants’ belligerent approach on the night as he hit three fours off his first three balls faced. Earlier, opener Kyle Mayers took on Arshdeep Singh with disdain, carting the left-arm pacer for four boundaries in the second over of the innings. The string of boundaries was as spectacular as this gem of a fielding effort from young Ravi Bishnoi.
There is no stopping Stoinis today.
He picks up the wicket of Punjab Skipper, Shikhar Dhawan.
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— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 28, 2023
