The Mumbai Indians and the hosts, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), squared off in Match 16 of the current IPL 2025 season.
Notably, the game was played on Friday, April 4 at Lucknow’s Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Thanks to Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram’s fifties, LSG was able to register a respectable 203/8. MI captain Hardik Pandya, on the other hand, stole the show with the ball after taking five wickets. But David Miller’s late appearance allowed Lucknow to surpass the 200-run threshold.
Talking Points
1. The charge was led by Marsh and Markram.
Mitchell Marsh, Australia’s powerful all-rounder, had a dominant knock in the powerplay period, scoring 60 runs off of 31 balls. It’s interesting that he had a reprieve and took full advantage of it, scoring a crucial half-century. Marsh hammered nine fours and two sixes throughout his exciting knock.
Aside from him, Aiden Markram was the mainstay, scoring a respectable fifty runs off of 38 balls before changing tactics after skipper Rishabh Pant was dismissed cheaply. Ayush Badoni added a last flourish in the latter stages with a 30-run cameo off 19 balls.
2. The 5-wicket haul of Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya, the captain of Mumbai, was the day’s standout player. He took a fifer, making him the first captain to do so. His main victims were batters like Markram and Nicholas Pooran.
When Jasprit Bumrah wasn’t there, the captain took the lead and tricked the hitters with small changes. Because of this, Lucknow appeared to be on track to reach 225 and beyond at one point, but Pandya’s bowling stopped them from doing so.
3. In the historic 100th match, Suryakumar Yadav’s fifty is in vain.
MI got a horrible start to their reply to the run chase, losing both openers, Will Jacks and Ryan Rickleton, in rapid succession in the third over. However, rookie player Naman Dhir forged a vital 69-run stand with Suryakumar Yadav for the third wicket, narrowly missing out on a well-earned fifty (46 runs off 24 balls). In his historic 100th game for MI, Suryakumar also got going and played a superbly timed innings.
But he didn’t stay until the very finish, as MI still needed 52 runs to win when pacer Avesh Khan dismissed him in the 17th over. When Mumbai slowed down in the middle, the equation became more difficult for them, and Luckow was able to win the match thanks to Digvesh Rathi’s economical bowling.
4. Hardik does not make it to Mumbai, and Tilak retires due to injury.
Hardik Pandya (28* runs off 16 balls) and Tilak Varma ultimately attempted to extend the game. To everyone’s amazement, however, MI decided to send Mitchell Santner out and get Varma “retired hurt” because he was unable to play his aggressive style. With 22 runs to defend, LSG Captain Pant gave Avesh Khan the final over. Despite smoking the opening ball of the last over for a six, Pandya was unable to hit cleanly for the remainder of the over. The MI captain was unable to lead his team home as LSG defeated the Mumbai Indians by 12 runs in the IPL 2025 nailbiter, securing a thrilling first victory at home.
Regarding the outcome of the Wankhede IPL opener, the captains and POTM (Player of the Match) have stated the following:
India
