Stoinis' fifty guides LSG to 163/5 against GT

It was an eventful first over from Umesh Yadav 222 as, after being dispatched over deep backward square leg boundary by in-form Quinton de Kock in the second ball of the innings, he got his man a ball later.

All-rounder Marcus Stoinis hit a fine fifty, his first in this edition of the tournament, while Nicholas Pooran played a cameo towards the end to guide Lucknow Super Giants to 163 for 5 in an IPL match here on Sunday.

Opting to bat, LSG rode on Stoinis' 58 off 43 balls and his 73-run stand off 62 balls with skipper KL Rahul (33 off 31) for the third wicket to propel LSG.

Towards the end, Pooran made 32 off 22 balls to help his side's cause. It was an eventful first over from Umesh Yadav (2/22) as, after being dispatched over deep backward square leg boundary by in-form Quinton de Kock in the second ball of the innings, he got his man a ball later. De Kock went for a similar shot to get an outside edge and Noor Ahmad took a smart catch at the third man. In the first ball of his next over, Umesh was pulled by Devdutt Padikkal to square leg fence but the pacer got his revenge inducing an outside edge from the left-hander and Vijay Shankar made no mistake at slip as GT slid to 18 for 2 after three overs. Rahul, however, went about his business in a quiet fashion, plucking three boundaries off Spencer Johnson with delightful strokes through the square and straight down the ground to pick up 13 runs off the fourth over. Rahul found an able ally in Stoinis as they played cautiously, dispatching bad deliveries to the fence to form the partnership and stabilise LSG's innings. Rahul was in great touch but just when he looked to spice up the run rate, the right-hander perished. Rahul went for a huge heave down the ground off Darshan Nalkande that was in the slot, but mistimed the hit and Rahul Tewatia took a fine catch at long-on in the 13th over. Stoinis got a reprieve on 43 and the Australian cashed in on the chance with both hands, clobbering Nalkande over his head for a maximum and in the process brought up his fifty in 40 balls. Stoinis then cleared Nalkande over wide long on for another six but the young bowler had the last laugh as he got his man in the next ball, caught by wicket-keeper BR Sharath as the batter went for another maximum. Pooran gave the final flourish to LSG innings with some strong hits.

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