Mumbai Indians record fifth straight victory, defeat Lucknow Super Giants by 54 runs

 In-form Mumbai Indians (MI) extended their winning run with a 54-run hammering of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), recording their fifth consecutive victory in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here Sunday.

The hosts smashed LSG in a one-sided clash in which Suryakumar Yadav grabbed lead as tournament’s leading run-scorer, with his 28-ball 54.

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Suryakumar continued to plunder runs to become the leading run-scorer in this IPL, crossing the 400-run mark with his third fifty. The India T20 skipper also completed his 4,000 runs in the tournament. Ryan Rickelton also sizzled with a 32-ball 58 that helped MI post a stiff 215 for seven being invited to take first strike.

With a handsome total to defend, MI juggled their bowlers cleverly as the visitors struggled to find response to the challenges thrown by the home bowlers.

With his wickets column not reflecting how well he has bowled since his comeback, pacer Jasprit Bumrah finally reaped the rewards to return with impressive figures of 4/22. He broke the back of LSG’s chase with three wickets in the 16th over.

In the process, Bumrah also went past Lasith Malinga (170) to become MI’s leading wicket-taker in IPL history. LSG’s chase was also marred by another poor outing for their captain Rishabh Pant (4). They were shot out for 161 on a perfect batting surface at the Wankhede Stadium.

Bumrah, usually reserved for later stages, was brought on early into the attack against a top-heavy LSG batting line-up and he produced immediate breakthrough in the third over.

Pooran went after Deepak Chahar in the sixth over, slicing sixes off two wide full tosses and putting one into the stands over midwicket but his charge didn’t last against MI’s dependable right-arm spin option in Will Jacks.

In the seventh over, Suryakumar, placed at long off just before the first delivery from Jacks, ran to his left and took a sharp diving catch to get rid of the dangerous Pooran. Jacks then had the out-of-form Pant caught at short third man off a meek reverse sweep, with LSG sliding to 60 for three.

Mitchell Marsh, who had begun well with a couple of gigantic sixes in the powerplay, lasted more than halfway through the chase for LSG but could not contribute beyond a 24-ball 34.

The wickets fell regularly around him at the top, forcing the Australian to change gears and be more conservative, in which he eventually failed.

His resistance ended in the 12th over when Trent Boult (3/20) dropped one short and Marsh pulled it hard but failed to get the distance, caught by Tilak Varma at deep square leg. Boult was once again impactful as he accounted for Marsh, Ayush Badoni (35) and Digvesh Rathi (1) in the final ball of the match.