Six years ago, Chennai Super Kings were faced with the task of chasing 197 by Kings XI Punjab. The start was decent, CSK got to 53/2 at the end of the powerplay before MS Dhoni predictably decided to play the waiting game and take the chase to the wire. He scored 32 off the first 26 balls while the asking rate climbed from just under 10 to nearly 17 after the 16th over. This is when Dhoni decided to cut loose, adding 47 in the next 18 balls but eventually CSK fell four short of the target. For much of the last 15 years, T20 cricket was used to the idea of teams consolidating starts, preserving wickets in the middle overs and backing themselves for a massive slog-overs onslaught. Dhoni won many matches this way, as has Virat Kohli. But the way Marcus Stoinis helped Lucknow Super Giants take down CSK’s 210 is symbolic of how the anatomy of T20 chases is slowly changing. Pacing the chase, sometimes as early as the 12th or 13th over of the innings, is becoming key to taking down big scores. Yes, Lucknow Super Giants still needed 17 off the last over, a feat by itself at a fortress like the MA Chidambaram Stadium. But a six and a four off the first two balls meant Stoinis had chopped down the ask to a very gettable seven off the last four balls. But key to keeping the asking rate within reach was to average at least two boundary hits per over. Our thoughts were pretty clear,” elaborated Deepak Hooda, who remained unbeaten on a six-ball 17. “We needed 14 runs an over and we were just looking to hit the gaps.” Simple really. Though it meant the application had to be spot on without losing a shred of nerve. Starting with a required rate of 10.55, LSG saw it climb to 13.66 when Nicholas Pooran entered the scene after 11 overs. Next over, 14.12 and the two slowly got down to work. A six and a four in the 13th over, repeating it in the 15th over, doing one hit better in the 16th—LSG never let the required rate soar over 15 or 16. “It is not just go, go, go,” said Stoinis, who ended up with a record 124*. “It was ebb and flow. There were some bowlers we targeted, some against whom we were cautious.”