There are occasions when one look at the pitch is enough to know that it’s a good time to bring your best T20 game to the fore. That’s how Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), who had otherwise been playing mostly on slow turners at home, responded after seeing the Mohali surface that resembled, for all practical purposes, a runway on the nearby Chandigarh airport.
Following the ideal T20 method - search for boundaries from ball one, take the anchor out of the equation, don't slow down in the middle overs, think sixes first - their batters blazed their way to a humongous 257/5 which the Punjab Kings (PBKS) fell short of by 56 runs on Friday.
In a match where LSG kept stretching conventional statistical limits, they finished just six runs short of going past the highest total in IPL history - 263 scored by Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in 2013. LSG’s total boundary count was 41 (27x4, 14x6), one fewer than RCB’s record.
KL Rahul knew a thing or two about the conditions, having led PBKS only a couple of years ago. Facing the heat for his poor strike rates, he didn’t want to waste any time. But after hitting a delightful lofted drive against Kagiso Rabada over long-off, his stay was cut short by the South Africa pacer’s back-of-the-length delivery.
Coming into the match, LSG may have been tempted to introduce Quinton de Kock to the tournament. But Kyle Mayers didn’t make that decision any easier. The West Indian knew exactly what was expected of him and came out firing on all cylinders. After pocketing four boundaries off the in-form Arshdeep Singh, he began chancing his arm and hammering the boundary ropes. Singling Sikander Raza out for some special treatment, he picked up 17 runs off the fifth over. Mayers’ 50 came up off only 20 balls.
{{/usCountry}}Coming into the match, LSG may have been tempted to introduce Quinton de Kock to the tournament. But Kyle Mayers didn’t make that decision any easier. The West Indian knew exactly what was expected of him and came out firing on all cylinders. After pocketing four boundaries off the in-form Arshdeep Singh, he began chancing his arm and hammering the boundary ropes. Singling Sikander Raza out for some special treatment, he picked up 17 runs off the fifth over. Mayers’ 50 came up off only 20 balls.
{{/usCountry}}Only Rabada’s bouncers were creating some impact. That’s how he sent Mayers, 54 off 24 balls with 7 fours and 4 sixes, back in the sixth over. But LSG had raced away to 74/2 in the powerplay and they didn't look back.
With the foundation in place, LSG turned their batting order around, promoting Ayush Badoni and Marcus Stonis to No 3 and 4, ahead of the struggling Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya. Grabbing the opportunity with both hands, the duo put up an 89-run 3rd wicket stand off 47 balls.
LSG had scored 128 runs despite batting their entire quota of 20 overs in the previous match. Here they got as many in half the time. The field had spread but the boundary riders kept seeing the ball disappearing over the ropes. After Badoni 43 (24,3x4,3x6) was dismissed, Stoinis 72 (40b,6x4,5x6) and Nicolas Pooran 45 (19b, 7x4, 1x6) amassed 76 runs for the fourth wicket in 30 balls.
LSG pummelled as many as 126 runs in the middle overs. If anything, they would have liked to have done more damage than the 57 runs they managed in the final five.
Six of the seven LSG batters scored at a strike rate of over 180. Six of the seven PBKS bowlers ended up conceding more than 12 runs per over. Amid the carnage, leg-spinner Rahul Chahar stood out with figures of 4-0-29-0.
In response, PBKS couldn't take a leaf out of LSG’s book and did not flip their batting order. Young Atharva Taide 66 (36b, 8x4, 2x6) was impressive but in the circumstances, they would have been better served if their more destructive batters had not been held back till the 12th over of the run chase with the asking rate having gone up from nearly 13 at the start to 18-an-over. LSG kept mixing it up, using nine bowlers to ensure they won big.