LSG win by 18 IPL204

Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Indians fans witnessed a classic Rohit Sharma half-century but also saw their side slump to their tenth defeat of the season. The victors, Lucknow Super Giants, too were left with a ‘what-if’ feeling, as their seventh win of the season took them to the important landmark of 14 points, but a straggling net run-rate of -0.667 left them just outside the top four.

Needing a mathematically impossible margin of victory to fix their net run rate, it was Nicholas Pooran who rescued LSG from a familiar situation. With their top order struggling again, his 29-ball 75 brought life to a sluggish LSG innings to post 214 against an inexperienced MI attack that played without Jasprit Bumrah.

MI then began the chase in dazzling fashion on the back of Rohit’s barrage of boundaries on either side of a short rain delay, but they slid from 88 for no loss to to 120 for 5 in the middle overs, effectively ending their chances of putting up a realistic fight.

The result meant MI, under new captain Hardik Pandya, finished last for the second time in three seasons. LSG will end up missing the top four for the first time in their three-season history.

MI 196/6 in 20 overs..

Mumbai needs 34 runs to win off 6 balls. Naveen with the ball. SIX! Short and pulled away over deep midwicket for a maximum. That’s a 25-ball fifty for Naman Dhir and his first in the IPL. Full outside off and Dhir drills this over long-off, or almost, because Krunal pulls the ball back in on the edge of the rope. Just a single. OUT! Kishan chops on as he swings for the hills and his sluggish innings finally comes to an end. In comes Romario Shepherd. Naveen goes short and angles it down leg-side, called wide. 

Just a single for Shepherd at deep point next ball. Dhir misses this one, which is in the blockhole, and that’s a dot ball. SIX! Final flourish for Dhir as he sends this full delivery outside off over extra-cover for a maximum. 

That’s it then! From the match and from MI and LSG this season. MI confirms its last spot, finishing with just four wins from 14 games, while LSG is left to rue a season of what ifs. 

Lucknow Super Giants  (20 ovs)

TOTAL

20 Ov (RR: 10.70)

214/6

Pooran powers Lucknow to IPL win over hapless Mumbai..

Nicholas Pooran starred in Lucknow Super Giants' 18-run victory over pre-tournament favourites Mumbai Indians in the last game of a disappointing Indian Premier League season for both teams Friday.

The maverick West Indies' wicketkeeper-batsman hit eight sixes in his 29-ball 75 to take Lucknow to 214-6 after Mumbai skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and chose to field first.

Mumbai crashed to 196-6 despite an impressive start by openers Rohit Sharma and Dewald Brevis in their rain-interrupted chase.

Pandya said that it was "quite difficult" for five-time champions Mumbai, who finished the 10-team league in last spot.

"This season we didn't play good quality cricket and it cost us the whole season," Pandya said.

Lucknow too failed to qualify for the playoffs and ended the tournament in sixth spot.

Captain KL Rahul said that it was "very disappointing".

He blamed mid-season injuries to key players and said that they "didn't play well enough collectively and couldn't come together" as a team.

Earlier, Nuwan Thushara got Mumbai off to a great start and removed opener Devdutt Padikkal for a first ball duck.

Padikkal's partner Rahul stitched together a 48-run partnership with Australia's Marcus Stoinis, who fell to Piyush Chawla's leg-spin for a 22-ball 28 in the sixth over.

Chawla also removed Deepak Hooda (11) to reduce Lucknow to 69-3 by the 10th over.

Thushara finally removed Pooran in the 17th over to end his match-defining, 109-run partnership with Rahul.

He also removed rookie Arshad Khan (0) in the same over and finished with 3-28 in his four-over spell.

Chawla removed Rahul, who took 41 balls for his 55 runs, in the 18th over and finished with 3-29.

Key unbeaten cameos by Ayush Badoni (22) and Krunal Pandya (12) took Lucknow to 214-6.

Mumbai's openers took their team to 88 before Brevis fell for 23 in the ninth over.

India skipper Sharma top-scored with a 38-ball 68 with 10 fours and three sixes before he fell in the 11th over.

In between, Mumbai also lost their best T20 batsman, Suryakumar Yadav, for 0 and were reduced to 97-3 while out-of-form skipper Pandya fell for 16.

Indian rookie Naman Dhir hit five sixes and four fours in his unbeaten 28-ball 62.

Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who removed Sharma, and Afghanistan's Naveen-ul-Haq, who removed Brevis, took four key Mumbai wickets between them.