Akash Madhwal put on a spellbinding performance in Chennai, as Mumbai Indians registered a crushing 81-run win over Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator Round of IPL 2023. Mumbai will now take on Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2. Here are the highlights from the game.
Madhwal fires on all cylinders!
Five wickets for just five runs. It turned out to be a dream day for the bowler from Uttarakhand. With a smooth run-up and repeatable action, Madhwal bowled at brisk pace and troubled the Lucknow batters by getting the ball to skid through. Prerak Mankad was the first of his dismissals as he sliced one to the fielder at third man. Madhwal continued to bowl incisively as he dislodged Ayush Badoni by rattling the timber. He soon picked up the prized scalp of Nicholas Pooran by inducing the edge through a delivery that straightened on the angle. He then completed his five-for by removing both Ravi Bishnoi and Mohsin Khan. With his figures of 5 for 5, he equalled Anil Kumble’s record for the most economical five-for in IPL history.
Not long ago, Madhwal was playing tennis-ball cricket in Uttarakhand and western Uttar Pradesh. Simply put, he was destined to shine on the big stage.
Did any player from Lucknow put up a fight?
Marcus Stoinis, the Australian all-rounder, did. He crunched an impressive 27-ball 40, cracking five fours and a six. He took a liking to Hrithik Shokeen’s bowling, smacking him for two fours and a six. He also cracked a few shots off Piyush Chawla and Chris Jordan. Eventually, he was run out on the back of a terrible mix-up with Deepak Hooda, which more or less signalled the end of Lucknow’s campaign in IPL 2023.
Collective effort powers MI to above-par score
Compared to Tuesday’s match between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans, the track at Chepauk seemed to have a little more pace in it. Even then, a score of 182 still seemed above par. Mumbai were able to aggregate a good score on the back of a collective show from their batters. After they had lost a couple of early wickets, Cameron Green showcased his batting prowess yet again by composing a 23-ball 41. He took a toll on the bowling of Krunal Pandya and Naveen-ul-Haq. Tilak Varma and Nehal Wadhera also played vital hands to ensure that Mumbai got themselves in pole position.
Naveen-ul-Haq’s day out
Naveen, the Afghanistan pace bowler, has been in limelight in the ongoing IPL, but for reasons not exactly related to cricket. However, in this crucial game, he put on a fine exhibition of bowling and returned noteworthy figures of 4 for 38 in four overs. Rohit chipped Naveen to the covers, while Suryakumar Yadav was done in by the leg-cutter. He also employed the slower one to pick up the key scalps of Green and Tilak.
A tactical error or two?
Mohsin Khan, known to be Lucknow’s go-to bowler in the slog overs, didn’t bowl his quota of four overs. He used the left-armer’s angle and variations in the penultimate over and gave away just two runs. That particular over was an indicator that Mohsin should have completed his full quota, especially as nine overs of spin gave Lucknow no reward.
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