Stoinis stars as Lucknow smash Punjab

Marcus Stoinis and Kyle Mayers smashed 11 boundaries apiece to bring Lucknow Super Giants the second-highest team total in Indian Premier League history during yesterday’s 56-run demolition of Punjab Kings.Lucknow finished on 257-5 after being sent in to bat with Mayers giving the visitors a racing start, putting on 41 runs from 21 balls with skipper K L Rahul.Kagiso Rabada sent back the openers, with Mayers caught at mid-on for 54, but Stoinis kept up the charge with a statement knock that delivered 72 from 40."This wicket was so much better to bat on than the one at home,” said the Australian afterwards. "We were even joking about it in the middle.”Stoinis took 22 runs off the last nine balls he faced to finish in the 19th over with six fours and five sixes.Wrist spinner Rahul Chahar was the only Punjab bowler who managed to slow down the batting charge, conceding 29 runs in his wicketless four overs.Punjab rode 23-year-old Atharav Taide’s 66 off 36 balls to finish at 201 runs in a brave but improbable chase. Stoinis put an early dent in the fightback by dismissing returning captain Shikhar Dhawan (1), who was caught in the deep after miscalculating with an uppercut in the first over. The Australian’s night came to a premature end after he was hit on the hand while bowling and retired hurt, grimacing in pain, though he was unfazed after the match."My finger is alright. We will get scans done,” he said.Taide was out in the 13th over becoming leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi’s first wicket of the evening. He also trapped Liam Livingstone lbw for 23 effectively ending Punjab’s already scant hopes.Sikander Raza was the only other Punjab batsman to cross the 30-run mark with the hosts all out on the second-last ball.Lucknow’s score was six shy of the tournament record by Royal Challengers Bangalore, who scored 263-5 in a 2013 match against the now-defunct Pune Warriors.The game also recorded the second-highest boundary count - 45 fours and 22 sixes - in IPL history, second only to the 69 between Chennai and Rajasthan Royals in 2010.BRIEF SCORESLucknow Super Giants 257 for 5 (Stoinis 72, Mayers 54, Pooran 45, Badoni 43, Rabada 2-52) beat Punjab Kings 201 (Taide 66, Thakur 4-37, Naveen 3-30, Bishnoi 2-41) by 56 runs.