A fiery five-wicket by Akash Madhwal helped Mumbai Indians (MI) seal an 81-run win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) eliminator match at Chennai on Wednesday, setting up a clash with defending champions Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2. LSG has been knocked out of the tournament. In the chase for 183, LSG was off to a poor start. Akash Madhwal continued his brilliant form, dismissing Prerak Mankad for three off six balls, with Hritik Shokeen taking the catch. LSG was 12/1 in 1.5 overs.
The North Indian side was dealt another heavy blow in the powerplay as the dangerous Kyle Mayers was dismissed for 18 off 13 balls. Chris Jordan took his first wicket, and Green took a great catch. LSG was 23/2 in 3.2 overs. Following this, Marcus Stoinis and Krunal Pandya started to build a partnership. The duo took LSG through the remainder of the powerplay without taking any wickets. LSG reached the 50-run mark in 5.4 overs.
At the end of the powerplay, LSG was at 54/2, with Stoinis (28*) and Krunal (2*) unbeaten. Stoinis and Krunal smashed Hritik for 18 runs in the sixth over. The 46-run stand between the duo was broken by spinner Piyush Chawla. Krunal was dismissed for eight off 11 balls after being caught by Tim David at long-on. LSG was 69/3 in 8.2 overs.
LSG was bundled out for 101 in 16.3 overs. MI won by 81 runs to seal the qualifier 2 match against the Gujarat Titans. Madhwal was the pick of the bowlers, taking 5/5 in 3.3 overs. Chris Jordan and Piyush got a wicket each. Solid knocks from Cameron Green and Suryakumar Yadav and a fine cameo from Nehal Wadhera in the death overs helped Mumbai Indians (MI) reach 182/8 in their 20 overs of the Indian Premier League (IPL) eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants at Chennai on Wednesday.
Electing to bat first, skipper Rohit Sharma and Ishan gave yet another brisk start to MI. The duo smashed LSG skipper Krunal Pandya for 16 runs in the third over, including two fours and a six. LSG put an end to MI’s intent-filled start as Naveen-ul-Haq stepped in to dismiss Rohit for 11 off 10 balls, with Ayush Badoni taking the catch at covers. MI was 30/1 in 3.2 overs.
Cameron Green was next up in the crease. The centurion from the last match started by smashing Naveen for two successive boundaries. However, Ishan could not sustain himself at the crease for longer as he edged the ball straight into the hands of wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran for 15 off 12 balls. Yash Thakur got his first wicket. MI was at 38/2 in 4.2 overs. MI touched the 50-run mark in 5.1 overs.
In the final over of the powerplay, Krunal’s struggles continued as he gave away 16 runs, including three boundaries by Green. MI was 62/2 in six overs, with Green (23*) and Suryakumar Yadav (9*) unbeaten. Suryakumar and Green started to hit aggressively and build a partnership. The duo also brought up their fifty-run stand in just 28 balls.
