Lucknow Super Giants beat Mumbai Indians by 18 runs on Saturday (18th May) at the Wankhede Stadium. Nicholas Pooran's scintillating 75 off just 29 deliveries and captain KL Rahul's gutsy 55 helped LSG post 214 on the board. In reply, Rohit and Naman Dhir scored fifties but were 18 runs short of the target.

KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran
Being asked to bat first, LSG had a tepid start. Devdutt Padikkal had golden duck as he fell to Nuwan Thushara. Marcus Stoinis came and gave a much needed momentum but couldn’t prolong his innings as he scored 28 off 22 balls. Deepak Hooda was unable to do something miracle, fell cheaply.

It was a perfeft start for MI as LSG were crumbling on 69-3 after 10 overs. And then the carnage started. The partnership between the LSG captain KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran changed the scenario of the match. Rahul played the second fiddle role perfectly, while Pooran was gearing up for big score. Pooran brutally killed the MI bowlers and raced his way to 75 off just 29 deliveries, including 8 monstrous sixes and 5 boundaries.

KL Rahul, while made a fine 55 off 41 and fell to Piyush Chawla. At the backend of the innings, Ayush Badoni came with all the guns blazing and made a sparkling 22 off 10 balls to help his side post 214 on the board.

In reply, Mumbai Indians couldn't have a great start as Dewald Brevis failed to make impressions. Brevis took 20 deliveries to make 23 runs, while his partner and former MI captain Rohit Sharma was at his best, Playing shots with highest authority and blazed a great 68 off 38 balls before falling to Ravi Bishnoi. Suryakumar had a golden duck and MI fell into deep trouble.

The middle order couldn't wage and was unable to make something special to chase down the total. The lower order batter Naman Dhir played a swashbuckling knock of 62 off 28 balls but was unable to chase down the total as MI were short of 18 runs.