LSG hold nerve, MI fall short of highest chase in Lucknow

Lucknow Super Giants’ tagline for their home games is ‘Adab Se Harayenge’ which loosely translates to we will defeat our visitors with respect, keeping with the one-time administrative and cultural home of the Nawabs of Avadh. But that marketing-driven gesture had largely been reduced to courtly diction, because LSG had failed to taste victory in their last four matches in Lucknow.

In their final home match of the season, however, LSG gave their fans reason to cheer at last for they held on for a nervy five-run win over Mumbai Indians. Chasing a target of 178, Mumbai came very close to sealing the highest successful chase at the Ekana Stadium this season, but the returning Mohsin Khan kept his wits about him to defend 11 runs.

What this win has done is lift LSG to third place on the IPL 2023 points table, a direct swap with their opponents, and ensure that defending champions Gujarat Titans will finish the league stage on top of the leaderboard. Beating MI means that LSG will enter the playoffs if they can beat Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on May 20.

On 13 points before this game, hosts LSG did not have the option of losing even one of their remaining two fixtures. Given first use of what was perceived to be another tacky strip at the Ekana Stadium, LSG were lifted to 177/3 in 20 overs, which is the second-highest score in seven matches there. But such was the visiting team’s conviction in overhauling whatever target was set, that the highest successful chase of the season at this venue was achieved.

Rohit Sharma’s decision to chase was in keeping with Mumbai’s successful template, but this was a very different surface as compared to what they usually get at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai also put more faith in pace, choosing to play four seamers and two spinners whereas LSG used three spinners. As it panned out, Rohit only bowled six overs of spin and 14 from pace, with Piyush Chawla and Hrithik Shokeen bowling three overs each for a combined run tally of 46 runs (7.66 per over) for one wicket. Mumbai’s pacers went for 126 in 14 overs (nine per over).

On a sluggish pitch on which his batting team-mates combined for 78 runs from 73 deliveries, Marcus Stoinis muscled his way to 89* off 47, hitting four sixes and three fours off his last 12 balls faced. It was that kind of match-shifting innings that LSG so desperately needed on that surface. Krunal Pandya, the LSG captain, contributed 49 from 42 deliveries before he retired hurt.

Mumbai’s chase began with Ishan Kishan crashing three fours and a six inside three overs, while Rohit hurried to 26 off 14 balls with three sixes as 58 were taken off the Powerplay block. With such a rare powerful start away from home via their unseparated openers, it appeared that MI were on course for another famous chase.

When the partnership was snapped at 90 in the tenth over by Ravi Bishnoi, who got Rohit miscuing a slog to long-on, the asking rate was eight and a ha;f per over. Kishan was on 49 when he was joined by Suryakumar Yadav, fresh off a rambunctious maiden IPL century at the Wankhede. Kishan thrashed two fours in the next three balls but on 59 he became Bishnoi’s second wicket, foxed by a googly that he swung out to deep midwicket.

As expected, it was spin that had the biggest say in the second innings. Bishnoi’s extraction of Mumbai’s openers in a match-turning spell of 2/26 was backed by four wicketless overs from Pandya for only 27 runs, leaving a tricky chase in the hands of trigger-happy batsmen accustomed to hitting freely at the Wankhede Stadium. With 63 needed from six overs, the first sight of a pace bowler produced that trademark scoop shot from Suryakumar, but he was early into the shot and was bowled by Yash Thakur for 7 off nine balls.

From that massive wicket, Mumbai struggled to recover and it was Mohsin, who later revealed that his father was in critical care until the day before this match, who dismissed Nehal Wadhera in the 17^th over and defended 11 runs with Tim David on strike, who had taken Naveen-ul-Haq for two sixes in a 19-run penultimate over. It was precisely this type of tigerish performance that LSG needed after a string of defeats at home.