Like Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians too are a different beast when in the playoffs. They proved so once again with an emphatic 81-run win over a buoyant Lucknow Super Giants in Wednesday’s Eliminator at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Rohit Sharma and teammates will now be taking on Gujarat Titans in Friday’s Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad.
Man of the Match Akash Madhwal shone for Mumbai with 5/5 off 3.3 overs.
Going into the Eliminator with three wins in a row, the Super Giants bowlers did well to restrict the five-time champions to 182/8 after Rohit won the toss and opted to bat first on a Chepauk surface that was better for strokeplay compared to the one in use for Tuesday’s Qualifier 1.
Quicks Naveen-ul-Haq (4/38) and Yash Thakur (3/34) kept striking at regular intervals to derail Mumbai’s innings after Cameron Green (41 off 22 balls) and Suryakumar Yadav provided the impetus with their blistering 66-run third-wicket stand.
Cameron Green, who formed a 66-run partnership with Suryakumar Yadav PTI
But in reply, pacer Madhwal produced a quality performance with the ball after his 4/37 in Mumbai’s must-win game against Sunrisers Hyderabad last Sunday. He got able support from the likes of Chris Jordan, Green and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla as Mumbai bowled the Super Giants out for a paltry 101 with 21 balls to spare.
As many as three run-out dismissals, including that of their ace batter Marcus Stoinis (40), worsened matters for Krunal Pandya and Co. Also inexplicable on the Super Giants’ part was their decision to keep opener and keeper-batter Quinton de Kock out of the XI.
They certainly needed the experience of the distinguished De Kock, whose IPL record is impressive to say the least. Had Stoinis not been dropped on five by Impact Player Nehal Wadhera (for Surya) at backward point, the scorecard would have been even more embarrassing for the Super Giants.
Mumbai though cashed in on the chinks of the Lucknow franchise and have given themselves another chance of a place in the IPL final.
Double strikes
In the first half, Naveen’s double strikes in the 11th over when he dismissed Surya and Green with two slower deliveries was crucial in applying the brakes on Mumbai. Without Wadhera’s two boundaries and a maximum in the final over of their innings, Mumbai wouldn’t have crossed 180.
But while defending the total, the double blow that Mumbai inflicted on the Super Giants when Madhwal removed Ayush Badoni and the dangerous Nicholas Pooran off back-to-back deliveries in the 10th over turned out to be match-winning.
