Eliminator

CHENNAI: Mumbai Indians came up with a clinical performance when it mattered the most to romp to a 81-run win over a listless Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL’s Eliminator here on Wednesday.

The reward for its meticulous performance is a Qualifier 2 clash against defending champion Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Friday.

Set to chase 183 on a two- paced wicket, Lucknow’s batting came a cropper, crumbling to 101 all out in 16.3 overs.

The writing was on the wall when Lucknow lost wickets in a heap, tottering at 74 for 5 in the 10th over.

Mumbai’s Akash Madhwal stood out with a splendid spell accounting for the key scalps of Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni and Prerak Mankad.

Apart from scything through Lucknow’s batting, what caught the eye was how economical he was with the ball, giving away just five runs while taking five wickets.

What also contributed to Lucknow’s downfall was its woeful running between the wickets with three batters getting run out, including Marcus Stoinis (40), the man in form.

Only three of its batters managed to enter double digits as the rest came to the crease armed with a white flag and no will to fight.

Earlier, ‘Impact Player’ Nehal Wadhera’s superb cameo (23 off 12 balls, 2 fours, 2 sixes) helped Mumbai score 182 for 8.

Wadhera, who replaced Suryakumar Yadav, smacked a six and hit two fours in the final over bowled by Yash Thakur (3 for 34) to boost MI’s score. Naveen-ul-Haq (4/38) picked up four wickets to keep a check on the MI scoring though he conceded 10 and 23 runs in the third and fourth overs respectively.

In his final over, ul-Haq got the crucial wicket of Tilak Varma (26 off 22 balls, 2 sixes) to finish with 4/38, including the big scalp of Rohit Sharma.

The impressive Mohsin Khan (1/24) conceded only six runs in the penultimate over before Wadhera stepped up the pace in Thakur’s next, the final over of the innings.

Skipper Rohit (11 off 10 balls, 1 four, 1 six), who began slowly, fell trying to up the pace, jumping out to hit Naveen only to find Ayush in the way in the fourth over.

Thakur struck in the next over, getting Ishan Kishan (15 off 12 balls, 3 fours) to nick one to the keeper.

Suryakumar and Cameron Green gave some momentum to the innings with a 66-run third-wicket partnership in a little over six overs.

Green (41 off 23 balls), who hammered a ton in the last league match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, slammed six fours and a maximum while Suryakumar hit two sixes and an equal number of fours in his 20-ball 33.

BRIEF SCORES: Mumbai Indians 182/8 in 20 overs (C Green 41, Naveen-ul-Haq 4/38, Y Thakur 3/34) bt Lucknow Super Giants 101 in 16.3 overs (M Stoinis 40, A Madhwal 5/5)