Five-time champions Mumbai Indians would be looking to finish their season on a high as they take on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), who are hoping for a miracle to make it to the playoffs, in match 67 of Indian Premier League (IPL) at the iconic Wankhede Stadium on Friday (May 17).
Mumbai Indians, in their last match, lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by 18 runs in a rain-affected clash at Eden Gardens. The match was reduced to 16 overs per-side and after opting to bowl, Nuwan Thushara and Jasprit Bumrah gave the visitors a dream start, knocking over both the openers in the first couple of overs. The Sri Lankan pacer sent Will Jacks packing for six while Bumrah cleaned up the in-form Sunil Narine for a golden duck with an in-swinging yorker.
Captain Shreyas Iyer too couldnāt do much with the bat and lost his wicket to Anshul Kamboj. Venkatesh Iyer was the top-scorer for the hosts, scoring 42 runs off 21 while the returning Nitish Rana also played a crucial knock of 33 to help KKR post a total of 157 for seven.
In response, the visiting team got off to a quick start as Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma took full advantage of the fielding restrictions and scored 62 runs. At one stage, Mumbai Indians were cruising but the game changed on its head when Kishan departed for 40. Sunil Narine brought the home team back in the contest and his fellow spinner Varun Chakaravarthy then soon joined the party and dismissed Rohit in the very next over. Wickets kept tumbling for the visitors and they eventually fell 18 runs short of the target.
Harshit Rana, Chakaravarthy and Andre Russel picked up two wickets each while Narine finished his spell with one for 21.
Lucknow Super Giants, on the other hand, missed out on keeping their fortunes in their hands as they lost to Delhi Capitals in their previous game. The KL Rahul-led side had the opportunity of increasing their chances of making it to the playoffs but they failed to get over the line at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
After opting to bowl, LSG got the big wicket of Jake Fraser-McGurk in the very first over as he fell for a two-ball duck. Arshad Khan got the early breakthrough for the visiting team. Abishek Porel scored 58 and was the highest scorer for the hosts. Tristan Stubbs gave Delhiās innings the finishing touches and took them over 200 with an unbeaten knock of 57 off 25. Delhi Capitals finished their innings at 208 for four.
In reply, LSG lost their skipper KL Rahul in the first over as he failed to read a slower ball from Ishant Sharma and was caught at point by Mukesh Kumar. In his next over, Ishant dismissed the other opener, Quinton de Kock for 12. Marcus Stoinis and Deepak Hooda also failed with the bat and at one stage, the visitors were reeling at 71 for five in 9.3 overs. Arshad Khan produced a late cameo that gave LSG hope. He scored 58 off just 33 deliveries but it was a bit too late for the visiting team as they eventually fell short by 19 runs.
With their season almost gone, Lucknow Super Giants would be looking to finish with a win and same is the case for Mumbai Indians, who are officially out of reckoning for a place in the last four.
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Match Timings: 7:30 PM IST & Local Time
Lucknow Super Giants Squad: KL Rahul (wk/c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Yash Thakur, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Ashton Turner, Manimaran Siddharth, Amit Mishra, Devdutt Padikkal, Arshin Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan, Kyle Mayers, Matt Henry, Prerak Mankad, Arshad Khan, Shamar Joseph