LSG move one step closer to play-off berth with five-run win over Mumbai Indians

Mohsin Khan made a fine comeback from a long injury layoff as the leftarm pacer defended 11 runs off the final over against the destructive Tim David to hand Lucknow Super Giants a fiverun win over Mumbai Indians in the IPL here on TuesdayMarcus Stoinis flaunted his raw power on way to an unbeaten 89 off 47 balls as LSG recovered from a poor start to post 177 for three after Mumbai opted to bowlMumbai were on course for a comfortable win but fluffed the chase in the second half of the innings to end with 172 for five in 20 oversMohsin who missed the whole of domestic season due to a shoulder injury helped LSG take a major step towards a topfour finish by holding nerve in the final overMumbai too remain in contention for a playoff spot despite the lossChasing 178 was not going to easy on this pitch but Rohit Sharma 37 off 25 and Ishan Kishan 59 off 39 raised possibility of a comfortable chase with a 90run opening wicket stand off 58 ballsKishan looked in menacing touch while Rohit hit two sublime sixes to give a strong indication that he was back to his bestHowever both fell to leggie Ravi Bishnoi in his successive overs as the hosts were back into the gameAlso Read IPL 2023 Playoffs Whats at stake for the remaining teams All you need to knowGoing for shots from ball one was not the best option on this surface and even the usually unstoppable Suryakumar Yadav experienced that in the middle A master at extracting runs behind the wicket he went for his trademark scoop shot off pacer Yash Thakur but ended up hitting it back to the stumpsMumbai needed 53 off the last 30 balls and with Nehal Wadhera and Tim David in the middle and Cameron Green yet to come there was arsenal left in the tankHowever David could not finish the game like he did against Rajasthan Royals earlier in the competitionEarlier Stoinis smashed eight sixes in his belligerent knock and shared an 82 run partnership with standin skipper Krunal Pandya 49 retired hurt after LSG found themselves reeling at 35 for three in the seventh overAs it has been the case through the season batters had a tough time on a two paced surfaceLSG made a questionable call to leave out their leading run getter of the season Kyle Myers and the move did not work Replacing him at the top Deepak Hooda 5 was undone by a slower ball from Jason BehrendorffThe next ball from the leftarm pacer was angled away and Prerak Mankad got a faint touch on way to the wicketkeeper while trying to run towards the third manThe situation got worse for LSG when Quinton de Kock 16 off 15 fell in the seventh over to leave the home team reeling in the seventh overDe Kock went for the drive off a googly from the wily Piyush Chawla but ended up getting caught behindThe onus was on the bighitting Stoinis and Krunal to resurrect the innings and they did that with a gritty stand before the latter got retired hurt after being seen in a bit of discomfort in the 16th overAfter that it was all Stoinis who began his innings with massive sixes off spinners Hrithik Shokeen and Chawla in successive oversStroke making was tough in the prevailing conditions but Stoinis used his brute force to get the much needed boundaries and sixesThe 18th over bowled by Jordan yielded 24 runs with the England pacer spraying it all over the place He failed to nail his yorker and Stoinis was quick to dispatch his two balls for massive sixes down the ground besides collecting three fours off the short ballsHe finished the innings with a onehanded six off Akash MadhwalMumbai leaked 54 runs in the last three oversThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever