It’s not been a season to remember for Mumbai Indians. The campaign began with boos for skipper Hardik Pandya and he got the same treatment from the Wankhede crowd when the all-rounder walked back to the dug-out after being dismissed for 16 (13b), leaving MI reeling at 116/4 chasing Lucknow Super Giants’ 214 in their final league tie on Friday.
The hosts could never recover, falling 18 runs short. The five-time winners finished with the wooden spoon, with only four wins to show.
Rohit Sharma gave the crowd reasons to cheer by ending his run of low scores. He came out blazing and hit through the line in the powerplay. The Indian captain’s 38-ball 68 would leave him better placed for the crucial World Cup campaign.
Earlier, Nicholas Pooran dominated proceedings for LSG through the middle overs, completing his fifty in 19 balls. The left-hander went berserk between overs 12-14. Overall, the southpaw blasted five fours and eight sixes.
Sixty six runs came during this spell of play when the LSG vice-captain went after Anshul Kamboj, Hardik Pandya, Arjun Tendulkar — he ambled off the field holding his hamstring — and Naman Dhir. Pooran’s 75 (29b, 5×4, 8×6) made up for KL Rahul’s workmanlike 55 (41b) to lift LSG to 214. Ayush Badoni’s 10-ball 22 ensured LSG went past 200, although LSG would have liked more than the 55 runs they got in the death overs.
The only bright spark in MI’s bowling innings was Nuwan Tushara, after working under idol Lasith Malinga’s care, the slinger delivered his best performance (4-0-28-3)
Jasprit Bumrah’s season came to an early close after MI decided to rest three of their regulars in the dead-rubber. Bumrah made way for Arjun Tendulkar, Tim David for Romario Shepherd and Tilak Varma for Dewald Brevis. LSG ended their campaign in sixth place, tied on 14 points with Chennai Super Kings (4th) and Delhi Capitals (5th). CSK have a match in hand — they meet RCB on Saturday.
