Hardik Pandya’s MI Suffer 3rd Loss of The Season
Hardik Pandya’s Mumbai Indians endured a disappointing start to IPL 2025, suffering their third defeat of the season against the Lucknow Super Giants. With just one win from four matches, MI continues to struggle. Meanwhile, LSG returned to winning ways with their second victory, though it wasn’t enough to push them into the top half of the table.
Rohit ruled out
Former captain Rohit Sharma was a big miss for the men in blue. Rohit had a niggle on his knee and he was replaced by Raj Angad Bawa in the line-up. LSG were boosted by the return of Akash Deep to the starting 11.
Flying start for the Super Giants
Mitchell Marsh opened the innings with Aiden Markram. The duo has failed to register a big partnership this season. Markram has struggled to score, and Marsh has been a bit inconsistent. Marsh took charge at a good bowling attack. He faced 30 balls in the powerplay and scored a half-century. The opening partnership stood for 76 runs in just seven overs. Marsh ended up scoring 60 runs in just 31 balls. Vignesh Puthur got the first breakthrough for the away side.
Hardik Pandya’s magic restricts LSG
The ball was nicely coming to the bat, but slow balls were troubling the batters. Hardik Pandya executed the plan properly, and he turned out to be the game-changer for his side. He took out Nicolas Pooran on just 12. His next wicket was Rishabh Pant. LSG’s captain continued to struggle with the bat. He scored just two runs.
Read Also: Mumbai Indians Register Their First Victory In IPL 2025
Hardik ended the innings with five wickets and gave away 36 runs. Aiden Markram completed his first fifty of the season before getting dismissed. LSG ended up scoring 203 runs for the loss of eight
Openers struggle, but Naman & Surya prevail
MI had to change their opening pair due to Rohit’s injury. Will Jacks moved up to join Ryan Rickelton. Akash Deep took out Jacks in the second over and Shardul removed Rickelton in the very next over. Mumbai decided to move Naman Dhir to no. 3 position in this match. He played a crucial role, along with Suryakumar Yadav.
The duo scored 69 runs for the third wicket. Dhir scored 46 runs in just 24 deliveries. His wicket turned out to be a big breakthrough for the home team. Digvesh Rathi continued his good form and got Dhir’s wicket. He just gave 21 runs in his four overs.
Surya continued to trouble the LSG bowlers. He, along with Tilak, created a 66-run stand for the fourth wicket. Tilak struggled to score at a decent pace. This added pressure on Surya, and he ended up losing his wicket. Then came a controversial moment when Tilak was retired in the 19th over. The batter managed 25 runs in 23 balls. Avesh Khan bowled a very tight final over after getting hit for six in the very first ball. LSG won the match by 12 runs.
