A no-show by Mumbai Indians (MI) batters nudged the side closer to the brink of elimination and gifted a four-wicket victory to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their Indian Premier League match at the Ekana Cricket Stadium here on Tuesday.

On a day when India announced the T20 World Cup side, its captain, vice-captain, and No. 4 fell for only 14 runs in Mumbai’s meagre display with the willow.

Rohit Sharma started with an inventive paddle sweep off Mohsin Khan but sliced the next delivery to the cover fielder.

Suryakumar Yadav followed in the same vein getting strangled down leg three deliveries after smoking a half-tracker over mid wicket. Ravi Bishnoi’s direct hit charging in from point caught Tilak Varma short of the striker’s end. Hardik Pandya’s golden duck meant the visitors hobbled to 28 for four by the end of the PowerPlay.

Ishan Kishan’s match-saving 53-run alliance with Nehal Wadhera (46, 41b, 4×4, 2×6) allowed MI some breathing time before rearguard muscle from Tim David (35 n.o., 18b, 3×4, 1×6) took it to 144 for seven.

In its pursuit, LSG needed back-to-back pull shots from Marcus Stoinis (62, 45b, 7×4, 2×6) off Gerald Coetzee in the fourth over to break the snooze that fell upon it after the early wicket of debutant Arshin Kulkarni.

Rahul took a leaf out of his partner’s book in the next over from Nuwan Thushara and pocketed 18 runs in boundaries. Stoinis reserved his onslaught for Jasprit Bumrah too, lofting the Purple Cap holder over the long-off fence in the sixth over. The LSG captain, however, perished trying to take on his counterpart Hardik Pandya, holing out at deep mid wicket.

Deepak Hooda top-edging a swat off Pandya to mid off could not slow down Marcus Stoinis either, who romped to a 39-ball fifty.

The game was in the home team’s hand when Mohammed Nabi prised out Stoinis in the 15th over. The fall of Ashton Turner and Ayush Badoni in the space of six deliveries prolonged the contest to the final over but could not prevent the inevitable.

Scoreboard

MUMBAI INDIANS

Ishan Kishan c Mayank b Bishnoi 32 (36b, 3×4), Rohit Sharma c Stoinis b Mohsin 4 (5b, 1×4), Suryakumar Yadav c Rahul b Stoinis 10 (6b, 1×6), Tilak Varma run out 7 (11b, 1×4), Hardik Pandya c Rahul b Naveen 0 (1b), Nehal Wadhera b Mohsin 46 (41b, 4×4, 2×6), Tim David (not out) 35 (18b, 3×4, 1×6), Mohammad Nabi b Mayank 1 (2b), Gerald Coetzee (not out) 1 (2b); Extras (lb-2, nb-2, w-4): 8; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 144.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-7 (Rohit, 1.3 overs), 2-18 (Suryakumar, 2.4), 3-27 (Tilak, 5.1), 4-27 (Hardik, 5.2), 5-80 (Kishan, 13.6), 6-112 (Wadhera, 17.1), 7-123 (Nabi, 18.1).

SUPER GIANTS BOWLING

Stoinis 3-0-19-1, Mohsin 4-0-36-2, Naveen 3.5-0-15-1, Mayank 3.1-0-31-1, Bishnoi 4-0-28-1, Hooda 2-0-13-0.

LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS

K.L. Rahul c Nabi b Hardik 28 (22b, 3×4, 1×6), Arshin Kulkarni (Impact Player in place of Mayank) lbw b Thushara 0 (1b), Marcus Stoinis c Tilak b Nabi 62 (45b, 7×4, 2×6), Deepak Hooda c Bumrah b Hardik 18 (18b, 2×4), Nicholas Pooran (not out) 14 (14b, 1×4), Ashton Turner b Coetzee 5 (9b), Ayush Badoni run out 6 (6b, 1×4), Krunal Pandya (not out) 1 (1b); Extras (lb-4, w-7): 11; Total (for six wkts. in 19.2 overs): 145.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-1 (Arshin, 0.4), 2-59 (Rahul, 7.2), 3-99 (Hooda, 13.1), 4-115 (Stoinis, 14.5), 5-123 (Turner, 17.1), 6-133 (Badoni, 18.1).

MUMBAI INDIANS BOWLING

Thushara (Impact Player in place of Suryakumar) 4-0-30-1, Bumrah 4-0-17-0, Coetzee 3-0-29-1, Chawla 3-0-23-0, Hardik 4-0-26-2, Nabi 1.2-0-16-1.

Toss: LSG.

MUMBAI INDIANS

Ishan Kishan c Mayank b Bishnoi 32 (36b, 3×4), Rohit Sharma c Stoinis b Mohsin 4 (5b, 1×4), Suryakumar Yadav c Rahul b Stoinis 10 (6b, 1×6), Tilak Varma run out 7 (11b, 1×4), Hardik Pandya c Rahul b Naveen 0 (1b), Nehal Wadhera b Mohsin 46 (41b, 4×4, 2×6), Tim David (not out) 35 (18b, 3×4, 1×6), Mohammad Nabi b Mayank 1 (2b), Gerald Coetzee (not out) 1 (2b); Extras (lb-2, nb-2, w-4): 8; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 144.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-7 (Rohit, 1.3 overs), 2-18 (Suryakumar, 2.4), 3-27 (Tilak, 5.1), 4-27 (Hardik, 5.2), 5-80 (Kishan, 13.6), 6-112 (Wadhera, 17.1), 7-123 (Nabi, 18.1).

SUPER GIANTS BOWLING

Stoinis 3-0-19-1, Mohsin 4-0-36-2, Naveen 3.5-0-15-1, Mayank 3.1-0-31-1, Bishnoi 4-0-28-1, Hooda 2-0-13-0.

LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS

K.L. Rahul c Nabi b Hardik 28 (22b, 3×4, 1×6), Arshin Kulkarni (Impact Player in place of Mayank) lbw b Thushara 0 (1b), Marcus Stoinis c Tilak b Nabi 62 (45b, 7×4, 2×6), Deepak Hooda c Bumrah b Hardik 18 (18b, 2×4), Nicholas Pooran (not out) 14 (14b, 1×4), Ashton Turner b Coetzee 5 (9b), Ayush Badoni run out 6 (6b, 1×4), Krunal Pandya (not out) 1 (1b); Extras (lb-4, w-7): 11; Total (for six wkts. in 19.2 overs): 145.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-1 (Arshin, 0.4), 2-59 (Rahul, 7.2), 3-99 (Hooda, 13.1), 4-115 (Stoinis, 14.5), 5-123 (Turner, 17.1), 6-133 (Badoni, 18.1).

MUMBAI INDIANS BOWLING

Thushara (Impact Player in place of Suryakumar) 4-0-30-1, Bumrah 4-0-17-0, Coetzee 3-0-29-1, Chawla 3-0-23-0, Hardik 4-0-26-2, Nabi 1.2-0-16-1.

Toss: LSG.

PoM: Stoinis.

LSG won by four wickets with four deliveries remaining.

Rishabh Pant’s brilliant batting form and inspiring leadership resurrected Delhi Capitals will look to continue their upward match in the points table. They will face the inconsistent Mumbai Indians in New Delhi on April 27, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

They both hail from the same state. They are friends since their age-group days. Donning different shades of blue, they have stood with their craft with the ball in an IPL dominated by towering totals.

No wonder then that the economy rate of all-rounder Axar Patel and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah could well be decisive in the key clash between host Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

After the 41st league match, Bumrah (6.37 runs per over in 32 overs) tops the list of best economy rate for bowlers with at least 10 overs this season, Axar is placed third in the list (7.06 runs in 31 overs).

Against a batting line-up full of power-hitters, the Gujarat duo will be looking forward to repeat the heroics performed at the Wankhede Stadium done earlier in the month.

Considering that both the teams are still languishing in the bottom half of the points table, a loss on Saturday could well push them into a must-win position for the remaining phase.

While the Capitals — with veterans David Warner and Ishant Sharma being unavailable due to fitness issues — will hope to carry on the momentum from Wednesday night’s win, Hardik and Co. will be keen on switching gears with time running out.

Barring Bumrah, the remaining bowling unit has been a huge concern. With an on-song Rishabh and Axar on fire with the willow along with Jake Fraser-McGurk’s range-hitting, captain Hardik will be banking on his bowling group to deliver against the odds.

The teams

Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant (c), David Warner, Abishek Porel, Ricky Bhui, Yash Dhull, Shai Hope, Prithvi Shaw, Tristan Stubbs, Kumar Kushagra, Swastik Chikara, Ishant Sharma, Jhye Richardson, Rasikh Dar Salam, Vicky Ostwal, Anrich Nortje, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Praveen Dubey, Khaleel Ahmed, Sumit Kumar, Axar Patel, Gulbadin Naib, Lalit Yadav, Jake Fraser-McGurk.

Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla, Gerald Coetzee, Tim David, Shreyas Gopal, Ishan Kishan (wk), Anshul Kamboj, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Kwena Maphaka, Mohammad Nabi, Shams Mulani, Naman Dhir, Shivalik Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Arjun Tendulkar, Nuwan Thushara, Tilak Varma, Harvik Desai, Nehal Wadhera, Luke Wood.

Match starts 3.30pm IST.

Rajasthan Royals bowler Sandeep Sharma celebrates a wicket during the Indian Premier League 2024 match against Mumbai Indians in Jaipur on April 22, 2024.
| Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar

Rajasthan Royals’ Sandeep Sharma returned from injury in grand style, picking up a five-wicket haul, to restrict Mumbai Indians to 179 in its IPL 2024 encounter at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on April 22.

Returning to the playing XI for the first time in almost a month, Sandeep showed no signs of rustiness as he delivered match figures of 5/18 in his four overs, his best in T20 cricket.

Mumbai Indians got off to another torrid PowerPlay start, similar to the reverse fixture at the Wankhede earlier in the season. Rohit Sharma, was the first to fall, mistiming his attempted lofted shot, handing Trent Boult his 26th first-over wicket in the IPL – the most for any bowler.

Sandeep opened the bowling from the other end and quickly accounted for Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav. Suryakumar was caught unaware by a smart field change from Samson, positioning Rovman Powell at long-on, with the batter finding him perfectly with his attempted leg-side flick.

MI sent in Mohammed Nabi at five, trying to counter-attack and the Afghan all-rounder took down Avesh Khan for 18 runs in the last over of the powerplay. The cameo was short-lived as the 39-year-old was Yuzvendra Chahal’s 200th IPL victim, providing a simple return catch.

The onus was now on Mumbai’s two young southpaws, Tilak Varma and Nehal Wadhera, to take the team to a challenging total.

Wadhera, playing his first match of the season, was the more attacking among the two, getting off the mark with a sweep past fine-leg off R. Ashwin. The duo rotated strike regularly, punishing the occasional bad balls to the boundary, bringing up the fifty-partnership in 34 balls.

The pair took down Avesh for 19 in his second over and continued the merry-making against Chahal, scoring 20 off the 16th — Tilak completing his 38-ball fifty in the process.

Wadhera fell to Boult, one short of his fifty, bringing the flourishing partnership to a halt at 99 runs.

After Avesh kept things tight in the 19th over, Sandeep returned to pick up three wickets in the last over to restrict Mumbai to a below-par total.

Scoreboard

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma c Samson b Boult 6 Ishan Kishan c Samson b Sandeep 0 Suryakumar Yadav c Powell b Sandeep 10 Tilak Varma c Powell b Sandeep 65 Mohammad Nabi c&b Yuzvendra Chahal 23 Nehal Wadhera c Sandeep b Boult 49 Hardik Pandya lbw Avesh 10 Tim David c Parag b Sandeep 3 Gerald Coetzee c Hetmyer b Sandeep 0 Piyush Chawla not out 1 Jasprit Bumrah not out 2 Extras: 10 (lb-1, w-9)

Total: 179 for 9 in 20 overs

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-6, 3-20, 4-52, 5-151, 6-170, 7-176, 8-176, 9-177

Rajasthan Royals bowling: Trent Boult 4-0-32-2, Sandeep Sharma 4-0-18-5, Avesh Khan 4-0-49-1, Ravichandran Ashwin 4-0-31-0, Yuzvendra Chahal 4-0-48-1.

File photo of Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya.
| Photo Credit: AP

Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya on April 2 asserted that the former champions will not give up and will continue to fight in the ongoing IPL despite slumping to a hat-trick of defeats.

“If there’s one thing you should know about this team, we never give up. We’ll keep fighting, we’ll keep going,” Hardik posted on X.

Hardik has been facing the ire of fans since replacing Rohit Sharma as Mumbai Indians captain. The all-rounder was booed in the team’s opening two matches and the crowd hostility was at its peak in MI’s first home game of the season on Monday.

To add to the woes, under his captaincy MI’s campaign at the 2024 IPL got off to a disastrous start as they sit at the bottom of the table following three losses on the trot.

However, MI are known to be perennial slow starters. In 2015, they lost the first four games before going on to win the title.

Hardik’s poor captaincy calls have also been questioned — whether it was not giving Bumrah the new ball or sending Tim David ahead of himself against Gujarat Titans.

The change in captaincy has not sat well with the legions of MI supporters. On Monday, chants of ‘Rohit Rohit’ filled the Wankhede with the Indian captain himself asking the crowd not to jeer Hardik.

Mumbai Indians will next face Delhi Capitals at home on Sunday.

Rajasthan Royals’ Trent Boult in action during the Indian Premier League 2024 match against Mumbai Indians in Mumbai on April 1, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

Rohit Sharma, the India captain, was cheered. Hardik Pandya was jeered, and cheered as well. Neither Rohit, who continued to be worshipped despite being replaced as Mumbai Indians skipper, nor Hardik, his successor, could withstand the Rajasthan Royals onslaught.

Royals lived up to the reputation of being the best bowling unit in the Indian Premier League to set up a facile win at the Wankhede Stadium.

The left-arm pace duo of Trent Boult and Nandre Burger rattled the Mumbai Indians’ top-order. The spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and R. Ashwin then ensured the Royals took a firm grip on the game at the break.

Despite Hardik and Tilak Varma’s resurrecting partnership of 56 runs for the fifth wicket, Mumbai Indians could only manage 125 for nine.

Akash Madhwal then marked his first outing of the season with an impressive spell but Riyan Parag — who notched up his second successive fifty with consecutive sixes off Gerald Coetzee — took Royals home in the 16th over.

The night, though, belonged to Boult and Chahal. Thrice in his first two overs Boult saw the back of a batter who was facing his first ball. He accounted for Rohit (who poked at one that swung away to be caught by a lunging Sanju Samson) and Naman Dhir (leg-before off one that came into him) off the last two balls of the first over.

At one for two, Dewald Brevis became the earliest Impact Player introduced in IPL. But Boult, whose hat-trick was saved by Ishan Kishan, had Brevis caught at gully by Burger.

When Burger accounted for Ishan in the fifth, at 20 for four, MI was in danger of being bowled out cheaply. In came Hardik and was booed for the fourth time while taking guard. But as Hardik started timing the ball to precision, the jeers turned into cheers. A charge down the wicket for a one-bounced four over mid-on was the highlight of his three fours.

Chahal then enticed Hardik into mistiming a heave to long-on to peg MI back. He went on to bamboozle the lower-order to finish with superb figures of three for 11.

Despite Boult’s barrage, Chahal’s chivalry and Riyan’s robust hitting, the night will be remembered for how Hardik was treated on his return to his IPL alma mater.