Lucknow’s Emphatic Victory over Mumbai in a High Scoring Thriller in IPL 2024
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) triumphed by 18 runs but narrowly missed out on the playoffs due to their net run-rate.
Even though Rohit Sharma scored 68 runs off of 38 balls and Thushara and Chawla claimed three wickets each, the Mumbai Indians still lost for the tenth time this season.
Mumbai Indians 196 for 6 (Rohit 68, Dhir 62*, Bishnoi 2-37, Naveen 2-50) lost to Lucknow Super Giants 214 for 6 (Pooran 75, Rahul 55, Thushara 3-28, Chawla 3-29) by 18 runs.
Mumbai Indians (MI) supporters had mixed emotions on a sad evening at the Wankhede Stadium. While they were thrilled with Rohit Sharma’s explosive fifty, they also witnessed their team suffer their eleventh loss of the year and drop to the bottom of the points table.
After reaching the crucial 14-point barrier with their seventh victory of the season, the winners, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), were also left wondering what could have been. However, a dismal net run-rate of -0.667 kept them outside of the top four. In any event, LSG required an impossibly large margin of victory to obtain their NRR, even though they batted first and scored 214.
That evening, Nicholas Pooran saved LSG from a well-known predicament. His 29-ball 75 revived a lethargic innings against an inexperienced MI attack that was playing without Jasprit Bumrah, with Arjun Tendulkar standing in for him. Their top order was struggling once more.
After a brief rain delay, MI started the chase brilliantly thanks to Rohit’s onslaught of boundaries, but they collapsed from 88 for no loss to 120 for 5 in the middle overs, virtually ruining their prospects of mounting a credible challenge.
As a result, MI, playing for the second time in three seasons under new skipper Hardik Pandya, finished bottom. For the first time in their three seasons together, LSG will not make it to the playoffs.
Pooran Show at Wankhede
This season, LSG handed Devdutt Padikkal another opportunity at the top. But he ended with a duck, just as he had begun.
The new ball was slung into Padikkal by Nuwan Thushara, while Tendulkar also caused early problems for No. 3 Marcus Stoinis with a swinging delivery. Additionally, Piyush Chawla kept LSG calm enough to remove Deepak Hooda and Stoinis in rapid succession. However, LSG’s innings was heading in the wrong direction as they were 69 for 3 in the tenth over.
However, Pooran altered that, even hiding KL Rahul’s incapacity to score fast runs. Pooran smashed two sixes off Anshul Kamboj’s 12th over and then another off Hardik in the 13th over, while Rahul was reduced to just 40 in his first 33 balls.
Tendulkar hit two sixes in the first two balls of the fourteenth over, and he reserved his best for when the bowler had to leave the field due to injury. Naman Dhir, the replacement, was then hit for two sixes. That was a 29-point over.
While he rode his luck, Pooran’s photos weren’t always beautiful. Despite the fact that he and Rahul lost three wickets in three deliveries, their combination with Ayush Badoni’s last-minute attack (22 in ten balls) allowed LSG to reach 214 for 6.
Rohit Hits Big
Rohit has scores of 6, 8, 4, 11, 4, and 19 going into the game. He was the most out of form batsman for India in the T20 World Cup. However, Rohit batted as expected towards the end of the season when he lost the captaincy at the beginning of the 2024 Indian Premier League.
Also Read: IPL Winners List From 2008 to 2023: Records, Teams, and Historic Moments
Alongside new opening partner Dewald Brevis, he blasted boundaries on both sides of the wicket to get MI off to a fast start in the 215 chase. In the second over, he also made up for a shaky start by hitting Matt Henry for sixes over midwicket and long off.
Subsequently, Rohit relished the pace of the deliveries throughout the fifth, sixth, and seventh overs, hitting Mohsin Khan and Naveen-ul-Haq for six fours and a six in the course of eighteen balls. He reached his fifty in twenty-eight balls, giving MI the upper hand in the chase.
Bishnoi and Krunal Controls Mumbai
However, once the LSG spinners came on, MI and Rohit found themselves in a tight spot again. With the exception of sporadic boundaries, Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi had an impact by using neat spells to slow MI down. To aid LSG in their objective, the two of them also made excellent outfield catches.
In the tenth over, Krunal got Suryakumar Yadav to sweep to deep third for a three-ball duck after hanging on to a stunning sliding catch at long off to eliminate Brevis off Naveen in the ninth over. After Suryakumar was out, Bishnoi, who had made the difficult juggling catch, had Rohit slice to Mohsin at short third in the eleventh over.
Since Hardik was helpless, Bishnoi’s second victim was Nehal Wadhera. MI lost five wickets overall in the middle overs for a mere 22 runs in 34 balls.
Naman Dhir Shows his Worth
Once Wadhera was dismissed in the fifteenth over, MI’s game appeared to be over with Ishan Kishan looking off-colour at number four. However, Dhir gave the home crowd hope for the upcoming season with a brilliant, undefeated fifty-eight-ball century that reduced MI to 196.
He demonstrated his purpose with his second boundary of the game, a scoop from a short ball behind the keeper, and he followed it up with several powerful attempts.
The 19th and 20th overs saw three sixes in the space of five balls, which gave MI some hope. However, the chase was dashed when another outstanding fielding effort by Krunal on the boundary line stopped a second six to begin the final over.
What Happens If CSK vs RCB Clash Is Washed Out?
As the five-time champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) battle for the final playoff berth, the excitement in the IPL 2024 remains at an all-time high.
The excitement is at its peak as the present IPL 2024 draws closer to its conclusion. In their final league stage match, five-time winners Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) square off for the final playoff berth. The last team to join the top-seeded Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Rajasthan Royals (RR), and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the playoffs has not yet been determined. However, the teams have already secured their spots in the knockout stages.
RCB has won five straight games after defeating Delhi Capitals by 47 runs in their previous encounter. The Bengaluru-based team gathered momentum in the middle of the season to keep themselves in the title chase despite their dismal start. RCB is ranked sixth in the standings after 13 games played with 12 points.
In order to increase their chances of winning the championship, RCB must defeat CSK in this game. It is more than just a victory if they surpass the reigning champions in net run-rate by a specific amount.
However, Chennai, led by Ruturaj Gaikwad, has 14 points from 13 games and is now in fourth place in the standings. They will advance to the playoffs as the last team if they defeat RCB.
On the basis of net run rate (NRR), they can still qualify even if they lose the game. To maintain their net revenue ratio (NRR), CSK must minimize their loss margin.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning for heavy rains in Chennai on Friday and Saturday (match day), thus there’s also a chance of a washout.
The scenarios will provide the hosts an advantage over RCB in the event of a washout or shortened contest. In the event of a draw, both teams will receive a point each, but if the overs are cut short, RCB will struggle to sustain their NRR even following a victory.
Bengaluru will play Chennai on Saturday at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
