Lucknow Super Giants' star allrounder Marcus Stoinis was in supreme touch when Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) took on Chennai Super Kings in the 39th game of the Indian Premier League 2024 season and became the eighth player to register a ton in the ongoing season.
Stoinis, 34, helped Lucknow scale a mountain of 210 as LSG recorded the highest successful chase at Chepauk on Tuesday (April 23).
However, the situation wasn't tailor-made for Stoinis to succeed. Stoinis was forced to walk into the middle in the first over of LSG's innings after Deepak Chahar cleaned up Quinton de Kock for a duck.
Before Stoinis could think of executing his gameplan he lost his skipper KL Rahul as Lucknow were reduced to 33 for the loss of two wickets in five overs.
Stacked against the odds, Stoinis kept his calm and launched an onslaught of the highest order and ripped the Chennai Super Kings bowling attack to shreds.
Stoinis reached his fifty off just 26 balls and ensured that the asking rate remained within the achievable limits of Lucknow Super Giants.
He finished his innings with an individual score of 124* off just 63 balls and helped LSG cross the line with three balls to spare. Stoinis' knock was studded with 13 fours, and six maximums and came at a strike rate of 196.82.
Notably, the knock helped Stoinis register the highest individual score in a run chase in the Indian Premier League. He broke Paul Valthaty's record of 120 to set up a new milestone.
Stoinis revealed that his team targeted a few bowlers of Chennai Super Kings to stay on course of the chase and also shared his view on being promoted up the order.
"There are plenty of opening batters in the competition, so I will let them be but I am settled in the middle. 9Setting the tone of the innings) It is not just go go go. It was ebb and flow. There were some bowlers we targeted, some against whom we were cautious. Nicky P (Nicholas Pooran) played a good innings, Hooda (Deepak) also. It ebbed and flowed. From the inside, you are always structuring. You are liking some bowlers, not liking others much," said Stoinis during the post-match presentation.
Having begun his international career with T20I cricket, Stoinis is keen on boarding the flight to the Caribbean and the USA with his Australian teammates and is hopeful of selection for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024.
"I have got a great relationship with the coach. Me not getting a contract, I knew a while ago., I am absolutely fine with that on the contract front. On the playing front, I want to play. I love this competition, I started my career here," he added.
