MI faced a close defeat against LSG while chasing 204 runs; they managed to score 191 runs and lost the match by just 12 runs. This is MI‘s 3rd defeat In this season. Apart from one win at their home, nothing has gone well for them in the away matches. Let’s see the important reasons for their loss against LSG yesterday.
Missed chance of Mitchell Marsh
In the first over of Trent Boult against Mitchell Marsh, Marsh nicked the third ball of the over, but no one heard anything. So, Trent Boult didn’t appeal & Marsh survived that. Later, Marsh owned the powerplay and smashed 60 runs off 31 balls which set the tone for LSG to go for the big target.
LSG’s brilliance in death overs
LSG bowlers initially leaked runs as Naman Dhir was smashing Akash Deep all around the ground in the powerplay. Namn Dhir set the tone for MI to chase the big total. LSG were not up to the mark in the field as they were sloppy fielding and dropped catches.
But in the death overs, when it mattered the most, LSG were right on top in both bowling and fielding. MI required 29 runs in the last 2 overs. Shardul Thakur came to bowl the important penultimate over when dangerous Hardik Pandya and Tilak Verma were in the strike.
Shardul Thakur used all his experience and nailed his Yorkers perfectly. he just gave 7 runs in the over, didn’t concede a single boundary in that over, which affected the momentum of both the batters.
Avesh Khan who went for runs in his initial overs, was given the ball to defend 22 runs in the last over. he bowled a slot ball outside the off-stump, and Pandya smashed it for a six over covers. But Avesh didn’t press the panic button. He held his nerves and delivered in the next five deliveries.
Avesh Khan gave just 3 runs in the next five balls and LSG won the match by 12 runs.
Last over drama
Tilak Varma was batting at 25 runs of 24 balls in the 19th over. he was called back to come out as “retired out” as he was struggling to middle the ball. Santner came in and he faced just one ball in the last over to take a double. Hardik Pandya backed himself to finish the match with 22 runs to win, but it didn’t happen.
Calling back a star batter back when he was settled in the crease just because he was not timing the ball raised up a lot of controversies. MI, who were known for backing their youngsters, have done so to their star batter who proved himself at the international level.
Maybe a well-set Tilak Varma would have connected one ball in the last over, which could have changed the momentum towards MI, and the result would be different.
This may also affect Tilak Varma’s confidence, and from the next match, he might go hard from the first ball, which is not his natural game, and might throw his wicket and lose his form. Let’s see how Tilak and MI management handle this situation.
Also Read:Â LSG vs MI: LSG Win A Thriller Against MI After A Brilliant Death Bowling Exhibition