Mumbai Indians registered a thumping 81-run victory over Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator match on IPL 2023 on Wednesday. Playing at Chepauk, the five-time champions posted a total of 182/8 and later bundled out LSG for 101, after Akash Madhwal took a five-wicket haul. The wickets kept on tumbling as young pacer Madhwal broke the backbone of LSG's batting attack but one wicket which became the talk of the town was from the Mumbai Indians' camp, as Tim David's dismissal off Yash Thakur's delivery can be called as one of the most unfortunate.
In the 17th over of MI's innings, Thakur bowled a full-toss delivery, to which David played a shot but failed to time it. The miscued shot went up in the air and landed safely in the hands of Deepak Hooda at the long-on. After getting dismissed, David gave a disappointed look and demanded a no-ball. However, due to his long height, it was declared as a fair delivery and the aggressive batter had to depart for 13.
Mumbai Indians scored 182 for 8 in 20 overs and it seemed 15 short given the explosive batting firepower of Lucknow but Madhwal's incredible figures of 3.3-0-5-5 and some terrific ground fielding led by skipper Rohit Sharma saw Gautam Gambhir-mentored side crumble for a paltry 101 in 16.3 overs.
There were three run-outs in what turned out to be a forgettable evening for the Sanjiv Goenka-owned franchise.
If the first part of the evening belonged to a fiery Naveen ul Haq, whose 4 for 37 made everyone feel wary about MI's final score, Madhwal reassured the faith that his skipper showed in him.
MI will now take on Gujarat Titans on Friday in the second Qualifier in Ahmedabad to decide on Chennai Super Kings' opposition for the big final on Sunday.
(With PTI Inputs)