Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 5 (ANI): Young spinner Digvesh Singh Rathicontinued his impressive rise in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), delivering a composed and effective spell in Lucknow Super Giants‘ (LSG) 12-run victory over Mumbai Indians(MI). His figures of 1/21 in this high-scoring encounter earned him the Player of the Match award.
After the match, Rathi expressed his joy and revealed the inspiration behind his bowling mindset.
“I’m really enjoying it. I like to get batters out. I watched Sunil Narine bowl and from that time I took to bowling,” said Rathi.
Rathi’s only wicket came at a crucial time — the dismissal of the dangerous Naman Dhir, who had looked threatening with a quickfire 46 off 24 balls, including four boundaries and three sixes.
“Before that over, I spoke to you (Pant), we wanted a mid-wicket but we did not have one, he looked to play through there and that move really worked for us,” Rathi revealed.
The win was LSG’s second in the tournament, while MI slumped to their third defeat in four matches. With youngsters like Rathi stepping up and showing maturity, Lucknow will be optimistic about building momentum as the season progresses.
Coming to the match, the Lucknow Super Giantsbowlers’ exceptional performance restricted the five-time champions Mumbai Indians to 191 as the hosts registered a 12-run win at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Chasing a mammoth total of 203 runs, the Mumbai side didn’t have a good start as they lost the first two wickets in the first 10 balls of the second innings. First, Will Jacks (5 runs off 7 balls) was sent back to the pavilion when the team score was 11 and then Ryan Rickleton (10 runs from 5 balls) was sent back when the team score was 17.
Suryakumar Yadav (67 runs in 43 balls) and Naman Dhir (46 runs off 24 balls) were the highest scorers for the Mumbai-based franchise during the chase.
Team skipper Hardik Pandya (28 runs from 16 balls) and left-hand batter Tilak Varma (25 runs in 23 balls) scored some crucial runs for their side, but it was not enough as the side lost the game by 12 runs.In the 19th over, Tilak was retired out after playing the innings of 25 runs which came with the help of two fours when the team needed 24 runs off seven balls.
The last over was bowled by right-arm seamer Avesh Khan where the Hardik Pandya-led side needed 22 runs. Avesh conceded only nine runs off his 6 balls, despite conceding a maximum on the first ball of the 20th over.
For the Rishabh Pant-led side, one wicket each was grabbed by Shardul Thakur (1/40), Akash Deep (1/46), Avesh Khan (1/40), and Digvesh Rathi (1/21) in their respective spell of four overs.
Earlier, Pandya won the toss and elected to field, but MI’s bowlers were put under pressure early on as Marsh and Markram gave LSG an explosive start. The opening pair reached the 50-run mark in 5.1 overs and raced to 69 by the end of the powerplay.
was the aggressor, smashing 60 off 31 balls, laced with nine boundaries and two sixes. His innings ended when he was caught and bowled by Vignesh Puthur, but not before stitching a 76-run opening stand with Markram.
Nicholas Pooran, who has been in stellar form this season, couldn’t make a significant impact and fell to Hardik for 12. LSG captain Rishabh Pant’s struggles with the bat continued as he was dismissed for 2, also by Pandya, leaving LSG at 107/3 in 10.4 overs.
Aiden Markram continued to anchor the innings and found a reliable partner in Ayush Badoni, who chipped in with a quick 30 off 19 balls before being dismissed by Ashwani Kumar. Markram went on to score a composed 53 off 38 deliveries, hitting two fours and four sixes.
David Miller added crucial late runs with a brisk 27 before falling to Pandya, who later completed his five-wicket haul by dismissing Akash Deep for a duck.
Pandya returned with figures of 5/36 in his four overs, keeping MI in the game. The other wickets were shared by Vignesh Puthur, Ashwani Kumar, and Trent Boult.
