Rohit Sharma turned his comeback into a statement innings, and Ryan Rickelton matched him stroke for stroke as the Mumbai Indians powered past the Lucknow Super Giants by six wickets in their Indian Premier League clash here on Monday.
Rohit Sharma (84) marked a satisfying return from an injury-enforced break, and Ryan Rickelton (83) produced another display of his hitting ability as the Mumbai Indians dismantled Lucknow Super Giants by six wickets in their Indian Premier League match here on Monday.
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The MI openers stitched together their third century stand in the IPL, this time adding 143 runs, to set up a badly-needed victory. Chasing LSG’s 228/5, MI got home with 229/4 in 18.4 overs.
Earlier,
after Nicholas Pooran capitalised on some wayward bowling from MI with a blistering 21-ball 63, Rohit and Rickelton took full toll during their 65-ball association at the top.
The former Mumbai Indians captain had sat out five games due to a hamstring issue picked up while batting against Royal Challengers Bengaluru here on April 12.
But the 39-year-old showed no signs of rust or discomfort, hammering seven sixes and six fours in a 44-ball assault, while Rickelton maintained his prolific run with authoritative strokes all around the wicket.
Rickelton’s fluent stay ended in the 11th over when Mohsin Khan induced a mis-hit to cover, shortly after the left-hander had launched two towering sixes.
Rohit appeared poised to convert into his third IPL hundred before he top-edged impact substitute Manimaran Siddharth (2/47) and was taken at short fine leg in the 14th over.
Tilak Varma (11) could not impose himself on the contest, and stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav (12) once more holed out near the boundary, briefly tightening the contest for the home side.
However, Naman Dhir (23 not out) and Will Jacks (10 not out) calmly guided MI over the line.
In the Power Play, MI did not blaze away but still collected just over 50 runs in the first five overs. The real acceleration came in the sixth, when Avesh Khan was taken apart for 21 runs by Rohit.
The LSG pacer consistently erred in length, and Rohit punished him by following a pair of fours with two cleanly struck sixes.
Rickelton, who had opened his account with a six off Mohsin over deep square leg, enlivened the chase with crisp, commanding shots against both pace and spin.
Earlier in the evening, Lucknow Super Giants leaned on a whirlwind 20-ball 63 from Pooran to overcome a lull in the middle overs and post a competitive 228 for five.
Pooran feasted on poor lines and lengths from the MI attack, targeting the on-side with eight sixes and a four in his breathless knock, which, along with Mitchell Marsh’s 44 (25 balls; 4x4s, 3x6s) at the top, provided LSG with crucial momentum.
Jasprit Bumrah (0/45) went wicketless and overstepped three times, while Corbin Bosch (2/20) checked LSG’s progress during the middle overs just when they seemed headed for a total beyond 240.
Looking somewhat fatigued after a long stretch of T20 cricket, an off-colour Bumrah not only failed to execute his yorkers on two occasions but also bowled a no-ball, and Marsh struck fours off both the ensuing legal deliveries.
Bumrah’s fourth over cost 21 runs, and MI’s troubles in the powerplay did not end there.
Will Jacks offered Pooran deliveries in his hitting arc, and the former West Indies skipper responded with three towering sixes, racing to 22 off eight after being 3 off three.
Pooran then launched an assault on AM Ghazanfar, smashing two sixes and a four in the sixth over to propel LSG to 90 for one in the powerplay, now the joint second-highest score in that phase by a visiting side against Mumbai Indians here.
Having gone 17 innings without a fifty, Pooran benefited from MI’s poor execution. He reached his 16-ball half-century with a six off Chahar in the eighth over and added one more maximum soon after.
Pooran and Marsh combined for a 94-run partnership for the second wicket off just 35 balls, and at 123 for one after eight overs, LSG were firmly dictating terms.
Bosch, though, halted their march with a double-wicket over, dismissing both Pooran and Marsh to swing the momentum.
From a dominant 123/1, LSG stumbled to 160/4 after 12 overs, and it could easily have been 160/5 had Bumrah not overstepped when he had Himmat Singh (40 not out) caught behind. Himmat capitalised on that reprieve, adding an unbeaten 68 with Aiden Markram (31 not out) to lift LSG to a total that ultimately proved insufficient against MI’s commanding chase.
(With PTI Inputs)
