Lucknow Super Giants recorded the second-highest total in the IPL — 257 for five — on Friday and that was enough to beat Punjab Kings by 56 runs in Mohali.
Chasing 258, Punjab were bundled out for 201 in 19.5 overs. Despite losing Shikhar Dhawan in the first over, the home team put up a good fight mainly through Atharva Taide (66 off 36 balls) and Sikandar Raza (36 off 22).
Liam Livingstone and Sam Curran also contributed in the middle overs. Jitesh Sharma chipped in with 24 off 10 balls with three huge sixes in the closing stages but his dismissal meant the end of Punjab’s challenge.
Kyle Mayers during the blistering knocks against Punjab Kings in Mohali on Friday. PTI picture
The Super Giants fell six short of IPL’s highest total — 263 for five by RCB against Pune Warriors in Bangalore in 2013 when Chris Gayle played his epic 175-run knock.
Contributions from Kyle Mayers (54 off 24 balls), Marcus Stoinis (72 off 40 balls), Ayush Badoni (43 off 24 balls) and Nicholas Pooran (45 off 19 balls) helped the Super Gaints ride roughshod over the Punjab bowling.
KL Rahul (12 off 9 balls), however, missed the party.
Brutal hitting by Mayers and Stoinis fired the Super Giants from the outset. Mayers went on the rampage in the Powerplay before Stoinis effortlessly collected boundaries at will to help his team set a massive target.
Back as captain after three games, Dhawan opted to field but his bowlers were all over the place on a belter of a track. Barring Rahul Chahar, all the other six bowlers leaked more than 10 runs per over.
Batters key in battle of laggards
Calcutta: With just two wins each so far, Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad have been easily the worst teams of this edition of the IPL. No wonder then that they occupy the last two spots in the standings, with Delhi right at the bottom for an inferior net run rate.
When the two teams faced off a few days ago in Hyderabad, Delhi emerged victorious. They meet again at the Kotla on Saturday. But though Delhi have won their last two games, it is difficult to count them as the favourites for this match given the lack of bite in their performance.
Besides being the laggards of the league, the two are also united by the fact that it is their batting which has let them down this season. Delhi have seen captain David Warner get runs, though not at an impressive strike rate, but the others have done little so far. Similarly, the Sunrisers have had occasional heroes with the bat, but overall it has been a miserable story for them with the bat too.
Today’s match
■ Delhi Capitals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 7.30pm, Delhi , live on Star Sports & Jio Cinema
