The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) recorded a thrilling five-run victory over the Mumbai Indians (MI) in their final home match of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) season at the Ekana Stadium on Tuesday, May 16.
MI skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bowl first. Hrithik Shokeen returned to the playing XI, keeping the LSG's left-handed batters in mind. Lucknow decided to drop Kyle Mayers from the team to bring back Naveen-ul-Haq.
Jason Behrendorff was once again influential in the powerplay as he made easy work of the makeshift LSG top order. Deepak Hooda and Prerak Mankad were both dismissed in the second over to reduce the home side to 12-2.
Quinton de Kock was dismissed in the very first ball after the powerplay. Skipper Krunal Pandya and Marcus Stoinis put on 82 runs before Nicholas Pooran stepped in. Stoinis recorded his highest IPL score as LSG ended with 177-3 in the first innings.
In response, MI openers Rohit and Ishan Kishan put on yet another 50-run stand, which is a reflection of their surge in form of late. The pair put on 90 runs in 9.5 overs to give them a splendid platform. Ravi Bishnoi provided the first breakthrough as the skipper failed to clear the boundary.
The visitors endured a collapse in the middle overs as they only scored 41 runs in seven overs after the fall of the first wicket. The ball was seemingly in MI's court after Tim David reduced the equation down to 11 runs required off the final over. However, a brilliant final over from Mohsin Khan resulted in no boundaries in the final over and a famous win for LSG to savour.
On that note, let's take a look at three moments that created a buzz among fans during LSG vs MI tie.
#1 LSG skipper Krunal Pandya walking off the field after the 16th over
The stand-in LSG skipper played a valuable knock after coming into bat at No.4 in the third over of the first innings. Krunal Pandya scored 49 runs off 42 deliveries and shared a crucial partnership with Marcus Stoinis to not allow MI to run away with the game after a prolific powerplay with the ball.
In the final ball of the 16th over, Pandya attempted a single from the non-striker's end after Stoinis nudged it to the off-side. The Australian all-rounder, however, sent Pandya back declining the single as the fielder attempted to hit the stumps at the non-striker's end.
Pandya made it in the end but hobbled his way and decided to make his way to the dressing room to retire himself out. The move was primarily executed in a bid to combat the injury before bowling and give Nicholas Pooran enough time to deliver an impact after already having laid down the platform.
#2 Jason Behrendorff's double-wicket over
MI made a spirited start to the proceedings in Lucknow courtesy of Jason Behrendoff's continued output with the new ball. The left-arm pacer struck twice in the second over to reduce LSG to 12/2 in the third over.
The Australian pacer managed to outfox makeshift opener Deepak Hooda with a well-executed slower delivery. The batter misread and mistimed the shot to hand an easy catch to the man in the deep.
Behrendorff reverted to his stock ball for his next delivery, and it was enough to induce an edge from Prerak Mankad's bat as he looked to play a lazy stroke to the off side.
#3 Yash Thakur gets the big wicket of Suryakumar Yadav
MI were cruising at one stage and had the required rate under control. However, the quick dismissal of wickets made things trickier as it was hard for a new batter to get going right away.
Suryakumar Yadav succumbed to the pressure after a sluggish start against the spinners in particular and attempted to take on Yash Thakur immediately. The right-handed batter tried to play an unorthodox shot off the young pacer, but he could not find a decent connection.
Suryakumar managed to deflect the ball onto the stumps as he collapsed to the ground in disbelief as the home side began their celebrations after claiming a key wicket.
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