Ruthless Mumbai Indians seal second qualifier spot

IPL 2023 edged one step closer to a dream MI-CSK final as Akash Madhwal's stunning five-fer in the Eliminator helped Mumbai Indians brush aside Lucknow Super Giants at Chepauk on Wednesday (May 24). Chasing a stiff 183, LSG collapsed in dramatic fashion to get bowled out for just 101 as they lost their last eight wickets for just 32 runs. In the process, Madhwal broke into the record books by registering the best figures in IPL playoffs history and the fifth-best overall.

An identical pattern in the powerplay

Both teams made very similar starts in the powerplay. Ishan Kishan got going with three boundaries for Mumbai Indians and Kyle Mayers fetched a couple of boundaries in the first over of the chase. But MI lost Rohit Sharma and Ishan in quick succession whereas LSG were crippled by the wickets of Kyle Mayers and Prerak Mankad. But Cameron Green launched a stunning counterattack to shift the pressure back onto the bowling side very quickly and raced to 23 off just 9 balls to help MI post 62 in the powerplay. Similarly for LSG, Marcus Stoinis stepped up after the early losses and took on Hrithik Shokeen in particular to help his side knock off 54 in the powerplay.

How did MI fare after the PP?

They stepped on the accelerator and put LSG under immense pressure. Suryakumar Yadav and Green hit Mohsin Khan for a six each and kept the runs coming to take MI to 98 at the halfway stage. The partnership put MI firmly in control of the contest as they looked good to get closer to 200, a total that always sounds daunting in this part of the world. But the game turned on its head once again as Naveen-ul-Haq removed both the set batters in the space of three deliveries. Using the surface to his advantage. Naveen bowled two well disguised slower deliveries to deceive both Suryakumar and Green to stop the rampage.

The strong finish

While Tilak Varma did clear the midwicket fielder immediately despite Naveen's heroics in the previous over, Tim David struggled to get going. He was content rotating the strike as MI set themselves up for a big finish at 131/4. But the impressive Yash Thakur got rid of David and Naveen returned to put an end to Tilak's innings and pick up his fourth wicket in the process. The onus was now on impact sub Nehal Wadhera who made a telling contribution right at the death. He fetched crucial boundaries in the end overs to guide MI beyond 180.

LSG's dramatic collapse post PP

While Suryakumar and Green took off after the powerplay, LSG's innings witnessed the exact opposite. They collapsed in extraordinary fashion to lose the momentum they had fetched in the final two overs of the powerplay. Krunal's stuttering innings came to an end when he failed to clear the fielder at long on and the impressive Akash Madhwal struck twice off successive deliveries that included the key wicket of Nicholas Pooran as MI ran away with the game.

Was there a recovery?

Absolutely not. In fact, things only became worse. Stoinis, the only batter who looked like putting up a challenge, was run out as he collided with Deepak Hooda in the middle of the pitch that hampered his momentum while he was on his way to making it back. K Gowtham's suicidal sun out soon after summed up the innings as LSG were down to 92/7. From thereon, they definitely didn't have a way back. Madhwal, who already had stunning figures, added to his tally by picking Ravi Bishnoi's wicket. At that stage, he had figures of 4/4 after three oves. He made it 5/5 in the final over by castling Mohsin that sealed the deal.

Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 182/8 in 20 overs (Cameron Green 41, Suryakumar Yadav 33; Naveen-ul-Haq 4/38, Yash Thakur 3/34) beat Lucknow Super Giants 101 all out in 16.3 overs (Marcus Stoinis 40; Akash Madhwal 5/5) by 81 runs