Mumbai Indians’ nightmare of a season ended with yet another defeat, their tenth of the season and fourth at home, against the Lucknow Super Giants by 18 runs. With this victory, LSG reached the 14-point mark required for qualification but that won’t help them as their NRR is way below CSK and RCB.
LSG has had some brilliant individual performances across their matches, including one by Nicholas Pooran on Friday. The visiting team was struggling to get going after being put to bat first but the momentum changed as soon as Pooran came out to bat in the tenth over.
The left-hand batter put the bowlers under pressure with his aggressive approach and scored a 29-ball 75 to put his team in a comfortable position.
The recent past must not have been something to look at for the MI team this year but with Naman Dhir’s innings, the future definitely looks good. He may or may not be retained ahead of the mega auctions this year, but he has shown what he can do with the bat in hand.
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Mumbai’s chase started slowly with just 33 runs in 23 balls before the match stopped due to rain. The game resumed after a 45-minute break with Rohit scoring two consecutive boundaries to Mohsin Khan.
Mumbai managed to up the ante post the break, courtesy of some brilliant hitting by Rohit and Dewald Brevis, as they took the score to 53 by the end of the Powerplay. The former skipper reached his half-century with a six to Mohsin off just 28 balls.
Naveen-ul-Haq provided the opening breakthrough to Lucknow with the dismissal of Brewis. The young Protea tried clearing the long-off boundary but mistimed the ball. Krunal Pandya, who was standing on the long off had to run and cover a few yards to take a diving catch at the end.
Suryakumar Yadav came at number 3 but could only last for three balls. LSG skipper KL Rahul may have pre-empted Surya’s shot because just before the wicket ball was bowled, Rahul asked the square leg fielder (Ravi Bishnoi) to move towards his left. And as if on cue, Surya swept the next ball straight into Ravi’s hands, who fumbled once but grabbed it on the second attempt.
Rohit was looking in great touch but couldn’t convert it into a big one as he lost his wicket to Ravi Bishnoi in the 11th over. Hardik scored two boundaries in his short stay on the crease which ended in 12 balls. Nehal Wadhera (1) followed the MI skipper to the dressing room soon enough.
Ishan Kishan and Naman Dhir put up a great partnership of 68 runs in just 32 balls. Lucknow had an opportunity to dismiss the dangerous-looking Dhir early on and was also successful in doing so but the bowler (Naveen) had overstepped and the MI batter got another life.
Dhir reached his half-century too with a six in just 25 balls. The last few shots by him may not have helped his team win the match but it entertained the crowd for sure, who were cheering his name after every boundary.
With just four balls and 27 runs left in the chase, Mumbai lost Ishan Kishan too. Ishan tried slogging one over the long-on boundary but ended up dragging the ball onto the stumps. The chase ended with a six by Naman (62*) albeit in a losing cause.
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