Marcus Stoinis made a composite fifty to complement the bowlers' stellar effort as Lucknow Super Giants boosted their chances of a play-off berth with a nail-biting four-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in the IPL on Tuesday. Mumbai Indians' top score came lower as they stuttered to a below-par 144 for seven, building on contributions from Nehal Wadhera (46), Ishan Kishan (32) and Tim David (35 not out). In reply, Stoinis scored a 45-ball 62, studded with seven hits on the fence and two maximums, but once he was gone LSG survived some anxious moments before getting home with four balls to spare. With their sixth win in 10 matches, LSG climbed to third spot in the IPL standings. MI, on the other hand, slumped to their seventh defeat in 10 games. LSG started their chase cautiously after Nuwan Aldushara struck with his fourth ball to remove impact sub Arshin Kulkarni for a duck on his IPL debut.
Stoinis smashed two consecutive boundaries off Gerald Coetzee, who eventually conceded 15 in his first over. KL Rahul (28 off 22) also joined the party and hit three fours and a six to take 20 points off Alsohara.
Stoinis then hit Bumrah for long as LSG reached 52 in the powerplay.
Mohammed Nabi held a skier at the boundary line while Hardik Pandya made a breakthrough and removed Rahul.
However, Stoinis continued to go strong as he and Deepak Hooda (18) added another 40 runs off 35 balls to take LSG close to 100.
Hooda was then removed by Hardik but Stoinis reached his fifty off 39 balls in the 14th over and then sent Mohammed Nabi for a four and a six. Coetzee bowled Ashton Turner, while Ayush Badoni was run out to give MI hope before Nicholas Pooran (14 not out) knocked out the remaining runs.
Earlier, MI dug a big hole for themselves by losing four wickets in the powerplay. The visitors just couldn't recover from the hiccups despite a 53-run fifth-wicket stand between Wadhera and Kishan.
Tim David eventually hit a few shots, including a final over of 17 runs, to give the total a semblance of respectability.
MI's top order failed as the visitors scored just 28 for four in the first six overs, the second-lowest powerplay score of this IPL.
While Rohit Sharma (4) was sent back by left-arm pacer Mohin Khan, Stoinis delivered a nice lead with a slow ball to dismiss Suryakumar Yadav (10).
MI were further in trouble when Ravi Bishnoi's direct delivery found the in-form Tilak Varma close to the crease.
Captain Hardik was then looking for a golden duck after poking a Naveen Ul Haq drive as MI slumped to 27 for four in 5.2 overs.
LSG used Stoinis well in the powerplay as his three-over spell with the new ball yielded a wicket for 19.
Returning from injury, pace sensation Mayank Yadav could have had a wicket but Turner dropped Ishan Kishan (32) at deep square leg.
Kishan and Nehal Wadhera tried to steady the ship with their fifth wicket stand but the LSG bowlers did not give much away as MI reached 68 for four in 12 overs.
With seven overs to go, Kishan tried to up the ante but fell for a Bishnoi googly. However, Wadhera defeated Mayank with two sixes and a four as 16 runs came from the 15th over.
Mohammed Nabi then dragged one towards the stumps of Mayank, who immediately left the field worrying about injury.
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