Marcus Stoinis’ all-round performance was instrumental in Kings XI Punjab’s stupendous win over the Delhi Daredevils in Mohali. The 26-year old Australian set the foundation for a formidable total with a 44-ball 52 peppered with couple of sixes. After a solid opening stand with captain Murali Vijay he went on shape the innings with a 58-run stand Wriddhiman Saha.

He later returned to dismiss both the DD openers – Quinton de Kock and Sanju Samson - who were threatening to take the game away for the hosts. He subsequently also accounted for the big-hitting Sam Billings, and helped keep the visitors in check in the death overs.

While speaking to iplt20.com about his batting, Stoinis said partnering with Vijay has helped him play his natural game and credited the efforts of Mohit Sharma and co. in the crucial last quarter of the innings that helped pull of the nine-run win.

Excerpts:

A great feeling to be performing with the bat and the ball?

It feels great to be involved in the win obviously and it is always a better feeling when we win. We bowled well in the death overs which got us over the line (while defending 181). So yes it is good to contribute (to the team’s success).

What was your plan for the openers, who you eventually stopped?

Quinton de Kock did really hit me for a few good shots. So hats off to him. But the plan is that you come up with your plan early and you stick to it. Things can change very quickly in this game so you’ve got to really trust what you are doing and trust your strengths. It is simple.

After that early onslaught from de Kock, what was your plan for him?

After being hit I was trying to figure out where he was looking to score and make it hard for him to take runs easily. So I was taking pace off the ball a bit more. In that over (when I got him out) he had hit me for a six off the first ball. It is a game of risks; he could top-edge and it could have just gone for another four (or) just spooned one up and got caught.

How have you been approaching batting in the powerplay?

I think part of batting in the powerplay is that you try and absorb the pressure of scoring too quickly sometimes. In the last game or two I took the risk maybe a little too early, but then you settle down to get the team off to a good start. Luckily I am batting with Murali Vijay, who gets off to a great start all the time and it allows me to play my game a bit more naturally.

There were a few mix-ups in the running before Hashim Amla was eventually run out. Can you tell us about those?

In this competition you are always batting with someone for the first time. We will sort that out for the next time I hope. I said sorry to him for the mix-up. He is a great guy and he is fine.

Did you think 182 was a good enough target for DD?

While going into the (innings) break, I thought 181 was a good score. But after the first six overs that’s really where the game starts; so as a batting team or a bowling team you can be on top, could have played really well till the 16-over mark and the game can still change after that. I think we squeezed (them) well and then bowled some very good death overs.