West Indies left-handed batting duo of Kyle Mayers and Nicholas Pooran teed off in a run fest that catapulted Lucknow Super Giants to a 56-run victory against Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League recently.
Mayers set the platform with 54 off 24 balls. He struck 7 fours and 4 sixes before being caught at mid-on off South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada with one ball in the Power Play. Pooran provided a strong finish with 45 off 19 balls. LSG posted the highest total for the season of 257 for five from their allocated 20 overs after being put in to bat at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.
The Kings were jolted early in the chase when their captain Shikhar Dhawan was caught at deep backward point off Marcus Stoinis for one in the first over. Impact player, Prabhsimran Singh was caught deep backward square for nine off Naveen in the fourth over.
Taide and Zimbabwe international Sikandar Raza rebuilt the innings with a stand of 78 for the third, wicket which enabled the Kings to reach 93 for 2 at halfway stage.
Raza made 36 but was caught at deep point off Thakur. Taide made 66 off 36 balls which was the top score and gave a return catch to Ravi Bishoni from a top-edge slog sweep in successive overs to set back the Kings chase.
The required rate continued to climb and rose above 20 and though the rest of the Kings batting put up a valiant fight, it was going to be an uphill battle to chase down the second highest total in IPL history.
The win was the fifth in eight matches for LSG, propelling them to 10 points, one of four teams with that number. But their scoring rate in the match gave a significant boost to their net run rate and move them into second, behind Rajasthan Royals and ahead of Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings.
