Mumbai: Nicholas Pooran struck a sensational 28-ball 75 to help Lucknow Super Giants reach a challenging total before they came back after a 45-minute rain break to quell Mumbai Indians by 18 runs despite blazing half-centuries by Rohit Sharma and Naman Dhir in Match 67 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium here on Friday.
Pooran slammed a 19-ball half-century, hitting eight sixes as he became the highest six-hitter (36) in the IPL 2024, to lift LSG from 69/3 in 10 overs to help them cross 200.
Mumbai Indians thus finished with eight points from 14 matches, ending last in the standings, the second time in three years for them. LSG ended with 14 points but will be ruing their performance in a couple of matches which could have put them in the playoff.
Pooran put on a dazzling display of power-hitting as he started his extraordinary knock with a six off Anshul Kamboj in the 11th over. In the next over by Kamboj, Pooran smashed a four and two sixes, picking the attempted yorkers cleanly out of the ground. Hardik was hit for two sixes in the 14th over as the Mumbai Indians bowlers bowled to the West Indies batter’s strength, giving him width and an opportunity to chance his arms.
Pooran went berserk in the 15th over, hitting Arjun Tendulkar for sixes off successive balls, picking the full-tosses cleanly as he raced to his third fifty of IPL 2024 off just 19 balls.
Tendulkar walked off the ground with cramps and Pooran celebrated the landmark by hammering Naman Dhir, who completed the over, for a six and four off successive deliveries. He handed Nuwan Thushara, brought in by Hardik Pandya to quell the rampaging Pooran, by hitting him for back-to-back boundaries before the Sri Lankan pacer had the last laugh, getting him to swing straight down to Suryakumar Yadav at long-on.
Meanwhile, Rahul, who was soldiering on from the other end, completed his half-century off 37 balls, hitting two boundaries and three maximums as he and Pooran raised 107 runs for the fourth wicket off 44 balls, with Pooran doing the bulk of the scoring. Rahul kept one end intact as he has done throughout the season, building up the platform for Pooran to launch his audacious attack. It was slow going for Rahul as he scored 34 runs off 40 balls at one stage.
However, Mumbai Indians pulled things back by taking three wickets on the same score, as Arshad Khan (0) and K.L Rahul fell quickly. Thushara claimed two of those wickets off successive balls while Chawla got the third to complete a team hat-trick as MI salvaged the situation.
Ayush Badoni blasted 22 off 10 balls and Krunal Pandya struck 12 off 7 as Lucknow Super Giants scored 36 runs off the last 18 balls to take their score past the 200-run mark. Badoni struck two sixes and a four in the last two overs as LSG set Mumbai Indians a challenging target.
Chasing a stiff target, Rohit and Naman struck Superb half-centuries but their efforts went in vain as Mumbai Indians fell short by 18 runs.
Rohit, coming in as an Impact Substitute, struck 10 boundaries and three sixes in a 38-ball 68 while Naman Dhir hammered a 28-ball unbeaten 62 as Mumbai Indians ended with 196/6 in 20 overs chasing a challenging total of 214/6 posted by Lucknow Super Giants thanks to a sensational 29-ball 75 by Nicholas Pooran and a patient 55 by skipper K.L Rahul after Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first. The match was halted for 45 minutes due to rain early in the MI innings.
Batting on a pitch on which the ball was gripping a bit, Mumbai Indians lost their way from 88 for no loss to lose five quick wickets for 30-odd runs and it was only an audacious late pyrotechnics by Naman Dhir that gave their score some respectability. Dhir blasted four sixes as he made a futile attempt to reach 62 off the last 28 balls.
In his final outing before he leads India in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Rohit Sharma came up with a superb effort, scoring a fine half-century off 28 balls, hitting seven fours and three sixes as he started in the fourth gear. After a cautious first over, Sharma blasted Matt Henry for back-to-back sixes — the second one a sensational shot hit by exposing all his stumps and freeing his arms to lift the ball from off-stump length over long-off.
A 45-minute rain break did not halt his momentum as he hit Mohsin Khan to boundaries off successive balls and repeated the same against Naveen-ul-Haq in the sixth over. Mohsin was again hit for back-to-back fours in the seventh over and Rohit ended the over with a superb six, giving the bowler the charge as he completed his half-century.
Ravi Bishnoi was treated to boundaries off successive balls in the eighth over and another four in his next over before the spinner had the last laugh as he got Rohit out, the former MI skipper offering an outside edge to Mohsin Khan at short third-man. He scored 68 off 38 balls, hitting 10 boundaries and three sixes.
Meanwhile, Brevis fell to Naveen-ul-Haq for 23 off 20 balls, caught by Krunal Pandya at long-off with 88 runs on the board. Sreekumar Yadav, playing his 150th IPL match, proved a big disappointment as he got out for a zero, Bishnoi pouching the catch on the second attempt.
Hardik Pandya ended IPL 2024 like the way he had started it — with fans booing him as the Mumbai Indians skipper disappointed once again, managing to score 16 runs off 12 balls before being caught by Naveen-ul-Haq off Mohsin Khan.
Nehal Wadhera was out for one run as Mumbai Indians fell to 120/5 in the 15th over.
With 66 runs needed off the last three overs, Naman Dhir hammered a couple of sixes and survived a catch off a no-ball to score a 25-ball half-century but in the end, his effort proved too little too late as Mumbai Indians ended the IPL 2024 like they started, with a defeat, finishing 10th and last in the standings.
Brief scores:
Lucknow Super Giants 214/6 in 20 overs (Nicholas Poorann 75, K.L Rahul 55; Nuwan Thushara 3-28, Piyush Chawla 3-29) beat Mumbai Indians 196/6 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 68, Naman Dhir 62 not out; Ravi Bishnoi 2-37, Naveen-ul-Haq 2-50) by 18 runs.
IANS