Lucknow Super Giants closed this season of Tata Indian Premier League with a victory over Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. However, this win could not salvage their playoffs dreams due to poor Net Run Rate. Finishing at number 6, LSG season-ending NRR stood at -0.667.
Out of 14 league matches that they played, the KL Rahul-led squad won seven and lost seven games. This is the first time in their history of three seasons that this new franchise will not be part of the IPL playoffs. Nicholas Pooran, who powered the visitors to a commanding total of 214/6, smashed eight sixes and five boundaries. His knock of 75 off 29 helped LSG after the collapse of the top order. He was adjudged the ‘Player of the Match’.
For Mumbai Indians, this has been a very difficult season. MI’s skipper Hardik Pandya said similar things in the after-match presentation. This is the second time in the history of IPL that the five-time champions have finished at the bottom of the IPL points table. Before this, it was in the 2022 season that MI finished last in the tournament.
This means that Lucknow Super Giants are officially out of IPL 2024 and the Chinnaswamy showdown between RCB and CSK is going to be a knockout match. Delhi Capitals were eliminated yesterday after Uppal washout led to SRH qualifying for the playoffs.
Coming back to the Wankhede game, MI won the toss and elected to field first. Nuwan Thushara and veteran leg-spinner Piyush Chawla claimed three wickets each but MI failed to restrict the tourists to a modest total. Thanks to the fourth wicket stand between Pooran and LSG skipper KL Rahul, the visitors scored 214 for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs.
In reply, MI did start on an explosive note. At one point, they were 88/0 and it seemed that they would chase down the target quickly. But soon after powerplay, they started losing wickets at an alarming rate and suddenly the scoreboard read 120/5. Naman Dhir played a gutsy knock – his maiden IPL fifty – but it wasn’t enough. Amid loudest cheers for Rohit Sharma, MI fans saw their team ending the season with an 18-run loss.