18-05-2024, SAT
Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya stated after his team’s humiliating 18-run loss to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium that they did not play good quality cricket on Friday. Hardik scored 16 runs off 13 balls with a strike rate of 123.08 while pursuing the 215-run goal set by LSG.
Speaking after the match, Pandya stated that his team’s failure to deliver a strong performance in the IPL 2024 cost them the season. He stated that it is too early to determine what went wrong for MI. “Very challenging. We did not play excellent cricket, and that cost us the entire season. This is a professional world. We must always present ourselves in the best possible light. However, as a group, we were unable to play either quality or smart cricket. It is too early to point out what went wrong. The entire season seemed to go wrong. “We can dismiss this game as another one that went wrong,” Pandya stated.
After winning the toss, MI sent LSG to bat first, but this did not go well as KL Rahul (55 runs from 41 balls, 3 fours and 3 sixes) and Nicholas Pooran (75 runs from 29 balls, 5 fours and 8 sixes) put on a blistering performance in the first inning. Marcus Stoinis (28 runs from 22 balls, 5 fours) and Ayush Badoni (22* runs from 10 balls, 1 four and 2 sixes) were the two notable batsmen for LSG, who led the visitors to 214/6.
Piyush Chawla led the MI bowling assault, taking three wickets in his four-over performance. The hosts got off to a great start in the run chase, chasing a 215-run target, but rain intervened after the fourth over, causing the game to be paused briefly. However, the MI openers’ momentum was not broken as Rohit Sharma (68 runs from 38 balls, 10 fours, and 3 sixes) and Dewald Brevis (23 runs from 20 balls, 1 four, and 2 sixes) shared an 88-run partnership.
Naman Dhir’s (62* runs from 28 balls, 4 fours, and 5 sixes) astonishing knock in the latter portion of the run chase gave the MI dugout optimism that the hosts would win the match, but he failed to secure a win in the end and suffered an 18-run loss on Friday. Naveen-ul-Haq and Ravi Bishnoi led the LSG bowling attack, each picking up two wickets in their respective overs. Following the win, LSG finished sixth in the IPL 2024 rankings with 14 points. MI had a forgettable season, finishing last in the table with only 8 points.
