KL Rahul’s Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) went head-to-head with Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 48th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) on Tuesday, April 30 at the Bharat Ratna Shri . Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
The home team came into the clash against the five-time champions with a dominant record in head-to-head matches, as in the 4 matches between the teams, LSG led 3-1 against MI.
After joining the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2022, the Lucknow Super Giants faced the Mumbai Indians twice in their debut season and in the 2023 season. In 2022, they defeated the Mumbai-based franchise by 18 and 36 races on April 16 and 24.
In both matches, the LSG captain scored brilliant centuries and led his team to victory. First, he scored a 60-ball 103 and then scored a 62-ball 103, remaining unbeaten on both occasions. When MI and LSG met for the third time, KL Rahul was not available for the match, but Marcus Stoinis’ sensational knock of 89* runs helped LSG seal a 5-run victory on May 16.
In the fourth clash alone, MI managed to beat LSG also in dominant fashion by 81 runs in a high-voltage IPL 2023 Qualifier.
Our players did well and put pressure on them – KL Rahul
Talking about their IPL 2024 clash, LSG elected to bowl first in the match and picked wickets at regular intervals to reduce MI to 27/4 with Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya back in the cabin. Nehal Wadhera (46) and Tim David (35) troubled the LSG bowlers a bit but in the end they stopped MI at 144/7. Mohsin Khan picked up two wickets, while Marcus Stoinis, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mayank Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi got a wicket each. Chasing the target, Marcus Stoinis (62) batted brilliantly and was well supported by others as LSG won by 4 wickets. Now the head-to-head record between the teams is 4-1.
At the post-match presentation ceremony, KL Rahul said that the LSG players put pressure on the MI batsmen from the beginning and did not allow them to recover. KL Rahul explained:
“We still had batsmen in the middle. An experienced batsman in Pooran and KP is also experienced. It was a bit dry. 165-170 would have made it a competitive game. It takes time to adjust to this wicket. Our players did well. And put pressure on them. I’m always happy when you get those two points. We need to gain momentum in the final part of the tournament and momentum helps.”
KL Rahul also provided a big update on Mayank Yadav, who left the field after bowling 3.1 overs and said the pacer was having some problems with his sides. KL Rahul said:
“I haven’t spoken much to Mayank. He had some pains in his sides. He said thoda dukh raha hai. So I asked him to come out. He is useful to us. We have to take care of him. He bowled. Wide yorkers and slower bumpers today, so which was good to see. We’re giving him free rein.”
LSG head coach Justin Langer also spoke about Mayank Yadav and said that the pacer will be scanned tomorrow. Langer said:
“It looks like he’s hurting in the same place, his rehab has been absolutely perfect, he’s bowled pain-free in recent weeks, he looks in excellent condition. We’ll do a scan and we’ll know tomorrow.”