Lucknow Super Giants Secure Victory Over Mumbai Indians in Thrilling IPL Clash

Lucknow Triumphs in a Close Encounter

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 5: The bowlers of Lucknow Super Giants delivered an outstanding performance, limiting the five-time champions Mumbai Indians to a total of 191 runs, leading to a narrow 12-run victory at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Friday.

In pursuit of a daunting target of 203 runs, Mumbai's innings got off to a rocky start, losing two wickets within the first ten balls of their innings. Will Jacks was dismissed for just 5 runs off 7 balls when the score was 11, followed by Ryan Rickleton, who managed only 10 runs from 5 balls, leaving the team at 17.

Suryakumar Yadav emerged as the top scorer for Mumbai, contributing 67 runs off 43 balls, while Naman Dhir added 46 runs from 24 balls. Despite some late contributions from skipper Hardik Pandya (28 runs off 16 balls) and Tilak Varma (25 runs in 23 balls), the team fell short of the target.

In a crucial moment during the 19th over, Tilak was retired out after scoring 25 runs, which included two boundaries, as the team required 24 runs from the last seven balls.

The final over was bowled by Avesh Khan, with Mumbai needing 22 runs to win. Avesh managed to restrict them to just nine runs off six balls, despite conceding a six on the first delivery of the over.

For the Lucknow side, Shardul Thakur (1/40), Akash Deep (1/46), Avesh Khan (1/40), and Digvesh Rathi (1/21) each took a wicket in their four-over spells.

Earlier, after winning the toss, Pandya opted to field first. Lucknow's openers, Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram, put the Mumbai bowlers under pressure right from the start, reaching 50 runs in just 5.1 overs and finishing the powerplay at 69 runs.

Mitchell Marsh was particularly aggressive, scoring 60 runs off 31 balls, including nine fours and two sixes, before being caught and bowled by Vignesh Puthur. He and Markram had a solid 76-run opening partnership.

Nicholas Pooran, who has been in excellent form this season, could only manage 12 runs before falling to Hardik Pandya, while LSG captain Rishabh Pant continued to struggle, scoring just 2 runs, also dismissed by Pandya, leaving the team at 107/3 in 10.4 overs.

Aiden Markram played a pivotal role in stabilizing the innings, scoring 53 runs off 38 balls, while Ayush Badoni contributed a quick 30 runs off 19 balls before being dismissed by Ashwani Kumar. David Miller added valuable late runs with a brisk 27 before falling to Pandya, who completed a remarkable five-wicket haul by dismissing Akash Deep for a duck.

Pandya's impressive bowling figures of 5/36 in four overs kept Mumbai in contention. The remaining wickets were shared among Vignesh Puthur, Ashwani Kumar, and Trent Boult.

Brief score: Lucknow Super Giants 203/8 (Mitchell Marsh 60, Aiden Markram 53; Hardik Pandya 5/36) vs. Mumbai Indians 191/5 (Suryakumar Yadav 67, Naman Dhir 46; Digvesh Rathi 1/21).