Lucknow, April 4 – Led by Digvesh Rathi, Shardul Thakur, and Avesh Khan, who each took a wicket, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) bowlers held their nerve to register their first home win of IPL 2025, edging out Mumbai Indians by 12 runs at the BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium on Friday. With openers Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram smashing fifties and David Miller applying finishing touches with a late cameo, LSG posted a challenging total of 203/8. The trio’s efforts made it look like an uphill chase for MI.
Suryakumar Yadav and Naman Dhir kept MI in the hunt, hitting 67 and 46, respectively. However, with Suryakumar falling in the 17th over and Tilak Varma struggling with the bat, LSG’s bowlers were able to maintain control. They stuck to a wide-ball plan in the death overs, helping the side secure their sixth win over the formidable MI outfit in the IPL.
LSG’s defense began on a bright note, as Akash Deep struck with his fourth ball, having Will Jacks pull straight to deep backward square leg for five. Thakur then dismissed Ryan Rickleton in a similar fashion for 10. Dhir counter-attacked Akash ruthlessly, hitting four and two sixes, before glancing another boundary in a 21-run fourth over. MI ended the power-play at 64/2. The duo took a boundary each off both Akash and Ravi Bishnoi, before Rathi removed Dhir for 46 right after the first time-out.
Suryakumar continued to impress, sweeping Bishnoi for four, driving Avesh for back-to-back boundaries, and later hitting Thakur through wide of deep cover for another four. Despite Varma’s struggles, Suryakumar brought up his fifty in 31 balls with a delightful late cut off Bishnoi past third man for four. However, MI received a big blow when Suryakumar, attempting to scoop, lost his balance and was caught by backward square leg off Avesh for 67.
Tilak and Hardik Pandya each hit a four off Avesh, and Pandya swept Rathi for another boundary, reducing the equation to 29 runs needed from 12 balls. With Thakur giving away only five singles in the penultimate over, an out-of-sorts Varma was retired out, and Mitchell Santner came in. The equation now stood at 22 runs off the final over. With a slow over-rate penalty limiting LSG to only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle, Pandya lofted Avesh over deep extra cover for a six. However, he couldn’t get another boundary, and LSG emerged victorious.
Brief Scores: Lucknow Super Giants: 203/8 in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 60, Aiden Markram 53; Hardik Pandya 5-36)
Mumbai Indians: 191/5 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 67, Naman Dhir 46; Digvesh Rathi 1-21, Shardul Thakur 1-40)
Lucknow Super Giants won by 12 runs.