17 May,2023 08:23 AM IST | Lucknow | Santosh Suri
Lucknow Super Giants batter Marcus Stoinis during his unbeaten 89-run knock versus Mumbai Indians in Lucknow yesterday. Pic/PTI
It was a brave decision by Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma to chase a total at the Ekana Stadium, whose pitch has been under scrutiny right through the IPL season. Barring the opening match in which hosts Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) notched up 193 against Delhi Capitals, getting runs has been a big problem.
Most games have seen scores in the range of 130 and even that has become a handful for the team batting second.
Luckily the pitch was much better on Tuesday and the home team did well to post 177-3 thanks largely to a brilliant Marcus Stoinis innings of 89 off just 47 balls with four boundaries and eight sixes. This was the second-highest total at the venue this season.
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Lucknow made a disastrous start when their makeshift opener Deepak Hooda and last game hero Prerak Mankad departed early; Jason Behrendorff accounting for both in successive deliveries.
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Quinton de Kock batted well till he was foxed by the wily Piyush Chawla off his first delivery. At 35-3, Lucknow were in big trouble. Luckily, stand-in skipper Krunal Pandya and Stoinis revived the innings with an 82-run stand before Krunal pulled a hamstring and retired one run short of a half-century.
Stoinis went on to complete his half-century and then took the Mumbai bowling to the cleaners.
