Lucknow Super Giants vs Mumbai Indians, 16th Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Preview by Pratyush Sinha

A new squad under a new captain. 40,000 odd in attendance. First home game of the season. The way Lucknow Super Giants tanked against Punjab Kings would have hurt. And it was evident in their newly-appointed mentor Zaheer Khan's short butexplosive press conference, where he expressed disappointment at not only the loss but also the playing surface, going as far as saying that it felt like it was prepared by a "Punjab curator". Oops.

That Lucknow, with its slow surfaces and large boundaries, isn't a routine venue for 200+ scores has been established over the years. In fact, there's only ever been one total above 200 since it started hosting IPL matches. The disappointment, it's understood, stemmed less from the pitch itself and more from how it was interpreted in the leadup to the match. Perhaps expecting the red-soil pitch to behave a bit differently, LSG played only two pacers and four spin options as opposed to PBKS, who bowled as many as 13 overs of pace and to good effect.

Learning things the hard way, LSG are expected to revisit their playing combination for this match against Mumbai Indians, especially on a black-soil pitch that didn't have much in it for the spinners last season. Fit-again Akash Deep's return to the squad will be a huge bonus and the pacer, who fronted the press on match eve, sounded confident about his match fitness.

MI, having finally gotten on the board, would have travelled to Lucknow with a huge sigh of relief but sterner tests await them in Uttar Pradesh's capital. It would take some adjusting to the pitch, which will not have the intrinsic pace and bounce like Wankhede. Playing away from home anyway has been an issue for them lately, with 13 losses in 18 away games since the start of IPL 2023.

When: Match 16, on Friday, 4 April 2025, at 7:30 PM local

Where: Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow

What to expect: A black-soil pitch, with one of the sides even shorter than the last match. Five of the last six IPL matches here have been won by the chasing side, but no dew is expected on match day.

The scores at this venue have shot up since the square was relaid ahead of the 2023 World Cup, but they are nowhere near what most other IPL venues promise since the Impact Rule rule kicked in. Part of that is to do with the large ground dimensions, which has meant that it's been harder to hit your way out of trouble after an early stutter. Negotiating the powerplay, which LSG didn't do very wellin their last match, will be crucial again.

Head to head: LSG 5 - 1 MI. The last time the teams met in Lucknow, LSG chased MI's 144 for 7 in the last over.

Team news

Lucknow Super Giants

Injuries/Availability: Akash Deep has joined the squad while Mayank Yadav continues to recover at BCCI's newly-built Centre of Excellence (COE). Akash sounded optimistic about Mayank joining the squad "soon".

Tactics and match-ups: Avesh Khan has been effective against Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, but if he doesn't cut it with the new ball, Ravi Bishnoi comes in with great numbers against two key MI batters too. The leggie has dismissed both Rohit Sharma [in six innings] and Suryakumar [in seven innings] three times each.
Probable XII: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (WK/C), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Prince Yadav/Akash Deep

Mumbai Indians

Injuries/Availability: No reported injuries in the camp.

Tactics and match-ups: Bowling spin to Rishabh Pant first up is a good option. The LSG captain has only 17 runs at a strike-rate of 65.38 in three outings this year so far. And his numbers against spin are even dire: 6 runs, 13 balls, 2 dismissals

Probable XII: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton(w), Will Jacks/Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Ashwani Kumar, Vignesh Puthur/Satyanarayana Raju

Did you know?

Of the six sub-150 totals defended in the IPL since 2022, three have been against LSG.

Avesh doesn't have a very good record in Lucknow, with only three wickets in five matches at an average of 48.66, SR of 34 and ER of 8.58.

What they said

"I feel the first match is very important for me. I have played one practice match but after a two to three-month gap, you don't get the confidence until you play the match" - Akash Deep, LSG pacer

"It's about adaptability around whatever is presented on that particular day. As a former player and now part of coaching management, you want to be able to prepare for any eventuality and you try to control things that you can control. The nature of the surfaces is something that we can't control as a management and as a playing group, so whatever is presented, that's how you get to be called world-class and legends, that you are able to adapt to anything that is in front of you" - Kieron Pollard, MI batting coach

Squads:

Mumbai Indians Squad: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton(w), Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Ashwani Kumar, Vignesh Puthur, Corbin Bosch, Raj Bawa, Robin Minz, Satyanarayana Raju, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Karn Sharma, Reece Topley, Bevon Jacobs, Krishnan Shrijith, Arjun Tendulkar

Lucknow Super Giants Squad: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Ravi Bishnoi, Manimaran Siddharth, Prince Yadav, Shahbaz Ahmed, Himmat Singh, Akash Maharaj Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Aryan Juyal, RS Hangargekar, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Akash Deep, Mayank Yadav, Shamar Joseph, Arshin Kulkarni