KL Rahul Smashes Ton As Mumbai Indians Lose Another

KL Rahul's century turned out to be the difference between the two sides as Lucknow Super Giants defeated Mumbai Indians by 36 runs in match 37 of the IPL 2022 played at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. 

Chasing a par total of 169, Rohit Sharma provided a decent start to the run chase as Ishan Kishan struggled at the other end. Mumbai ended up scoring 43 runs inside the powerplay without losing a wicket. 

Lucknow got the breakthrough in the eighth over when Ishan got out in an unusual manner - caught at slips after the ball bounced off the wicketkeeper's boots. Ishan scored eight runs in 20 balls. 

Ishan's wicket triggered a top-order collapse as MI went from 49/0 in 7 overs to 67/4 in 11.2 overs. In between, they lost Rohit Sharma, Dewald Brevis, and Suryakumar Yadav. Rohit's wicket was a big one as he got out after scoring 39 in 31 balls. 

Tilak Verma and Kieron Pollard stitched a crucial 57-run stand in 39 balls to keep MI interested in the game. Tilak was the aggressor as he smashed 38 in 27 balls before getting out in the 18th over. 

Even though Pollard was the crease, LSG bowled tight lines and didn't let the West Indian time the ball properly as Mumbai succumbed to the eighth straight loss of the season. 

For Lucknow, Krunal Pandya took three wickets while the rest of the pack shared a wicket each. 

Earlier, KL Rahul's second century of the season that too against the same opposition took Lucknow Super Giants to 168/6 in the first innings.

On being asked to bat first, LSG began cautiously and lost Quinton de Kock, finishing the powerplay at a score of 32/1. Manish Pandey and Rahul slowly took the innings forward with a 58-run stand in 47 balls for the second wicket. 

Pandey's wicket in the 12th over saw Super Giants' middle-order collapse as they went from 85/1 in 11.4 overs to 121/5 in 15.3 overs. 

Rahul kept rotating the strike and found boundaries at regular intervals to keep the scoreboard ticking from one end. Rahul gave the final flourish with a 47-runs stand in 25 balls with Ayush Badoni to get Lucknow close to the 170-run mark. During the partnership, Rahul scored his second ton of the season (his first also came against Mumbai). 

For MI, Kieron Pollard and Riley Meredith took two wickets each. 

Brief Scorecard: 

Also Read: IPL 2022 - Scorecard

Lucknow Super Giants - 168/6 
Mumbai Indians - 132/8