Hardik Pandya outsmarts Nicholas Pooran with a slow bouncer to dismiss him for 12 in LSG vs MI IPL 2025 match

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) star batter Nicholas Pooran was outdone by a slow bouncer by Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya in the ongoing 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Ekana Stadium on Friday, April 4. The Orange Cap holder was deceived by the lack of pace and the extra bounce to walk back after scoring just 12 runs off six deliveries.

Pooran came to the crease after Vignesh Puthur dismissed the in-form Mitchell Marsh in the first over after the powerplay. The left-handed Caribbean ace was up against Mitchell Santner right away, and he made the most of the match-up with a magnificent six over the deep mid-wicket fence.

Hardik Pandya brought himself into the attack in the ninth over of the innings. He bowled a barrage of his trademark back-of-the-length, shortish deliveries, which the batting pair of Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram were only able to dispatch for singles.

The all-rounder pulled back his length even further, and dropped the pace substantially too in the penultimate ball of the over. Pooran rushed to play the pull shot, and the lack of pace saw him come early into the shot. The batter could only make contact with the edge, resulting in a simple catch for Deepak Chahar at short fine leg.

Have a look at the key wicket right here.

The explosive batter's dismissal reduced LSG to 91-2 after nine overs. The hosts had got off to a stellar start courtesy of Mitchell Marsh's explosive fifty inside the powerplay.

Hardik Pandya strikes with the cutter once again to dismiss Rishabh Pant for 2 in his next over during LSG vs MI IPL 2025 match

LSG's middle-over crisis continued as Hardik Pandya stuck with his cutter formula. The all-rounder got the better of LSG captain Rishabh Pant by taking the pace off the ball, just like he did with Pooran in the first over of his spell.

The left-handed batter tried to nudge the ball towards the on side, but the slower delivery forced him into a leading edge, lobbing straight up in the air. Substitute fielder Corbin Bosch executed a full length dive after running in from mid-off to reduce LSG to 107-3 in the 11th over.