In addition to the loss in a thriller on Tuesday against Lucknow Super Giants to add salt to injuries skipper Hardik Pandya has been fined 24 Lakhs and other Mumbai Indians players have been slapped with a fine of 6 lakhs or 25 per cent of the respective match fee whichever is lower for slow over rate offence.

“Hardik Pandya, Captain, Mumbai Indians has been fined after his team maintained a slow over-rate during Match 48 of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 against Lucknow Super Giants on April 30, 2024,” the IPL said in a statement. “As it was his team’s second offence of the season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over-rate offences,” it further stated.

Lucknow prevail in a slug-fest

In a stark throwback to the early days of the IPL, Lucknow Super Giants were forced to drag their 145-run chase right down to the wire by the Mumbai Indians. Fresh from his blistering century last week in Chennai, Marcus Stoinis’ foresighted charge in the PowerPlay helped LSG negate a nagging middle-overs spell from Hardik Pandya.

Stoinis maintained a brisk inflow of boundaries early on before his partner KL Rahul made up for an iffy start with three fours and a six in the fifth over. While Hardik kept MI afloat with the wickets of Rahul and Deepak Hooda before the spinners darted in some miserly overs, Stoinis reeled in 62 off 45 deliveries. Having rendered Jasprit Bumrah wicketless and fended off a few probing overs at the death, LSG’s lower-order then took another 27 balls to erase the remaining 30 runs, enforcing a nervy last-over finish of another kind.

The death knell may have been sounded on Mumbai’s bid for the playoffs much earlier than the usual norm for the ‘comeback men’. After struggling to achieve parity in their combinations on high-scoring decks in better conditions through the season, the knockout punch was dealt on a sticky Lucknow pitch.

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