A winning knock of 100 by skipper KL Rahul sinks Mumbai Indians

Lucknow Super Giants lost three wickets of Manish Pandey (22), Marcus Stoinis (0) and Krunal Pandya (1) in three consecutive overs. Ayush Badoni joined KL Rahul, who was firing shots from his bat. The duo built a partnership of 47-runs off 25 balls, with which the captain completed his century. Lucknow Super Giants succeeded in posting a target of 169 for Mumbai Indians at the end of 20 overs. All credit goes to the skipper, who scored 103 off 62 to remain not out in the inning.

Stumbling batting order of Mumbai Indians

In response to the target, Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma opened the innings for Mumbai Indians  Rohit Sharma looked confident while striking shots; however, Ishan Kishan looked to struggle to score runs. He lost his wicket to Ravi Bishnoi after scoring eight off 20 balls. In the very next over, Mohsin Khan took Dewald Brevis (3). While Rohit Sharma looked to find a little of his form, he didn't find support from the other end and ended up losing a wicket to Krunal Pandya. Suryakumar Yadav looked to give another fresh start alongside Tilak Varma, but young fellow Ayush Badoni dismissed him on his 2nd ball to send him back on scoring seven runs. Tilak Varma stitched a partnership of 57-runs off 39 balls with Kieron Pollard, as the former was playing in attacking mode. However, Jason Holder took him for a full toss caught in deep mid-wicket. The final over of the match by Krunal Pandya witnessed wickets of Kieron Pollard (19), Jaydev Unadkat (1) and Daniel Sams (3). Lucknow restricted them to 132/8 in 20 overs to register their win by 36 runs.

KL Rahul (Player of the Match) said, "[On receiving most of the awards] I have to make up for the slow over-rate fines. I tried to stay in the moment and see what's expected from me. Fingers crossed I can carry on doing the same thing. We do back deep with Holder walking in at No. 8 and he has hardly batted. When you have that depth, you can play freely and take more chances. Think that's the only reason [behind a higher strike rate this season]. I think the teams that can defend well, can bowl well in the powerplay and the death, are the teams that sit at the top and win tournaments. We were lucky enough to get some of the finest allrounders, having them in the team I have options in the middle, and that makes my life easier."

After the clinical win, Lucknow Super Giants will now clash with Punjab Kings on 29th April, whereas Mumbai Indians will take on Rajasthan Royals on 30th April.